


Videogames and cops Or How to seduce the cop of your life

by Tomoyo1990



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: A little angst, Alternate Universe, Comedy, Death Threats, Detective Victor Nikiforov, Drama & Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Romance, Sexual Tension, Some mistery, Tension, Threats, a lot of teasing, best friend and partner phichit chulanont, game developer yuuri katsuki, happy ending planned, some tension, someone is threatening, they get help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-07-29 14:13:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16265888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tomoyo1990/pseuds/Tomoyo1990
Summary: Yuuri is a game developer who's been steadily threatened. Viktor is the best detective in the department and he is bored. Together, they will have to prevent Yuuri´s hater from actually carrying out his threats. If they like each other along the way, that's just a bonus.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! This is the first long fic I intend to write. I hope to make weekly updates but I can't make any promises. Hope you all enjoy yourselves!

The weather was clear. It looked like it would be a good day. Good for work and good for simply being. Yuuri was at his usual coffee shop, getting his caffeine fix for the morning. It was either that or drinking the awful thing they brewed at the office. How could coffee be so bad, when they had purchased one of the best machines in the market for their personnel and themselves, Yuuri didn't know. But the smudge he usually got served was NOT coffee. And, besides, he loved the chocolate chip muffins this particular coffee shop had. Not something he could indulge in everyday, but today seemed like a good day for it.

His walk to the company was a relatively short one. That was one of the reasons he and Phichit had chosen this particular location in the first place: it was accessible and a walkable distance from both their apartments. Specially if Yuuri felt like bringing Vicchan with him. That was not today, though. The day was so nice that he had arranged for his neighbour to take him out with his own dog, a vivacious chihuahua, to the park so he could enjoy the fresh air, nice sunlight and freshly cut grass from the park.

Within a few minutes, he arrived at the building that housed his and Phichit’s gaming company. They mainly focused their attention on mobile games, although they had recently developed a new game for PC gaming that had been rather successful and made them both really proud. As he ascended to his floor, Yuuri couldn't help the relax smile on his face. It was going to be a good and quiet day.

"YUURI!"

Or maybe not.

"Morning Phich! Aren't you a little loud for this early in the morning?"

"No. You are too calm for this early in the morning!"

"What's up?"

"We got featured in GamerX' Youtube channel!"

How the times had changed! Before, you hoped to get featured in a gaming magazine. Now, you were hot if you were analysed, praised, had a critique made or your game played-through by an online pseudo-celebrity. Or maybe they were full-fledge celebrities by now? Yuuri didn't know and didn't care. The accomplishment was still huge! Unless...

"Please tell me they didn't ripped us apart"

"They did not!" Phichit declared grinning. "They called us the game of the decade!"

That was good. God, what was he thinking, that was amazing! Critiques like that could skyrocket their sales! They were on solid ground, but a good sales margin was never something anyone would discard. After all, one bad game, one bad product could easily kill a company if they hadn't built a proper support structure. Something Yuuri prided himself in. He had both a degree in business management and game development and put them both to good use when they decided to invest in their own company. That had been 6 years ago and PCYK was soaring, branching out for the first time in other game genres and being good at it. They were still small, but thriving nonetheless.

"Phichit! That's great news!" His smile was wide on his face. He couldn't have hoped for better news!

They walked into their office and settled for work. Although most people would prefer their offices to be separated, they had gone through college as roommates and developed a sort of habit when it came down to buckling down and getting things done. It had worked like a charm to get them graduated and so they decided to stick to their unconventional style. Still, it should be mentioned that, if needed, a wall could be set up between their desks to divide their offices. A very simple mechanism that consisted of a foldable wall and a railing system.

The schedule for the day was a rather standard one: a few meetings with possible investors, a couple debriefing from ongoing projects and a presentation for a new PC game (since the first one was having such success, they thought it would be against the best interest of their growing enterprise to not pursue that new line of focus).

By lunchtime, they were done with half of that list and had settled in a conference room to hear the pitch for the new videogame.

“So, what you are proposing is basically the same game?” Phichit asked, a sceptic look on his face.

“Well, not the same…our current game is a private-detective, puzzle-solving and story-driven game with a make-your-own-story option. This would be a police officer trying to catch an assassin, a cat-and-mouse type of game…”

“Letti, you are presenting us the same game, with some tweaks here and there” Phichit cut the explanation.

“Well, I kept some aspects…the other was so good…why not keep the recipe…” She was stumbling and Yuuri remembered his days doing the pitching. He didn’t miss them at all.

“We get what you hoped to do.  I guess it’s what works in other companies. We’ve done it too. But that’s why we are here and not working for someone else. We want something that hasn’t been done before…in the means of possible since, well, everything seems to have been done at some point” And seeing the discouraged face of her employee added “Your work for the presentation was spot on. You need to focus on the product now. We hope to see you here again soon”.

It was meek, he knew, but he didn’t like the possibility of ruinning her spirits.

“Ok, I’ll keep thinking then!”

And with that, it was time to take a break.

“I hate it when they decide to recycle what we just did!” Phichit exclaimed once back in their office while he munched on a tuna sandwich.

“Give them some credit. You know that’s what everyone else expects them to do!” Yuuri argued.

“I Know! But Letti has been with us almost since the beginning and she helped developed P.I. and Rush Hour. She knows what we look for”

Phichit had a point and Yuuri nodded his agreement. He knew his best friend had high standards and that he held everyone, including themselves, to those standards.

“We’ll find a knew project soon. We are not in any need to rush anyway”

“Yeah, you are right. We can do this the right way!”

That put a smile on his friends face and let them delve into less serious matters, like Yuuri’s lack of a social life.

“I am not interested right now Phich!” He huffed for the twentieth time since the conversation started. Trying to read his long list of unanswered e-mails was hard enough without being badgered with questions regarding his sex life (or, again, lack of one).

“I’m just saying, there is something called fuck buddies, you know?”

He sighed again at his best-friend’s antics. The fact that he was heavily wiggling his eyebrows was not helping his case.

“And, as I’ve said a million times, that’s not something I’m comfortable with. Please, let it go. It hasn’t even been that long” he begged only to be met with the most annoying snort in the history of ever.

“Not that long? You two broke up almost a year ago!”

The incredulity was heavy on Phichit’s voice. That had been a bad break-up. They had been together for seven months; their sex life wasn’t exactly great and Yuuri had been full-on working on their currently best-selling game of the last three months. Everything came crashing down abruptly (but not unexpectedly) the time he had arrived late to dinner at his ex’s place and had been told to simply not bother showing up again. His things were delivered a week later to the office, since the guy claimed he wouldn’t be home and Yuuri couldn’t deny the fact.

Leaning back on his chair and closing his eyes while he rubbed the bridge of his nose, Yuuri let out what was probably his 20th sigh in an hour. He wasn’t hurt by the break up, not anymore at least, but he didn’t feel he had the energy to deal with anyone other than his dog right now.

“Phich, I promised you I will let you set me up the second I stop feeling like hitting every couple I meet on the street!” He said, eyes still trained on the ceiling. “But right now, I don’t think I could like anybody”.

Phicit knew when to back off and he gracefully did so now.

“Fine, but you better! I don’t want you turning into an old maid, you know? There’s still plenty for you to enjoy. I won’t let you be to be the crazy cat person of your building”

“Dog person maybe…how about I get ten puppies? All miniature poodles?” The gleam in Yuuri’s eyes let Phichit know he was joking…or at least that’s what the Thai told himself.

Anyway, the topic got dropped and just in time to hear the knock on the office door. Their assistant/secretary/everything-gets-done-because-of-me, Isabella, came in.

“Hope I’m not interrupting”

“No, not at all. Just finishing luch and answering some e-mails. What’s up?”

“I got the mail. Sorry I didn’t bring it in sooner, I was dealing with JJ on the phone”

They laughed. Bella’s husband was successful in his own sportswear company, but she had decided to work somewhere else since she believed that “he was too dependant on her and needed to grow up”. So, since his enterprise became steady, he took off and let him mature. That usually resulted in long phone calls of him talking to the air until he realized he could solve the issue himself. That, or she would hang up on him. Both usually worked.

“What did he do today?” Phichit asked, barely containing the glee of this latest bit of news.

“He shipped three deliveries to three wrong addresses. Instead of sending everything to the shops, he sent it to the buyers homes”

Yuuri and Phichit were cackling. Bella looked torned between amused and exasperated.

“How did he solve this one, then?” Yuuri was the one who managed the question this time.

“He called the transport company, begged and paid twice to have everything still delivered today to the right places. I love him, but he can be so clueless!”

It was nice to see how the couple got along. Not everything was a drama and teasing each other was the name of the game. This was the sort of couple Yuuri hoped to be some day.

“So, what did we get in the mail?”

“Mmm, let’s see. I already kept all the bills, I will be paying them in a bit. You have an invitation to a release party…” Yuuri groaned and Phichit whooped at it. They obviously had very different opinions on parties. “Guang Hong sent those documents you asked for…you know, those for the collaboration…”

“Give them to me, I’ll look them in a minute”

Bella handed them over to Yuuri and kept perusing the envelopes.

“The new copy of Wired and…” And her pause was a long one. When they looked at her, her face had gone serious. “another blank envelope”.

This had to be a joke! How many more of those were going to arrive? They hadn’t been funny the first time and as sure as hell they were now.

“Yuuri….”

“Don’t, ok?” Yuuri said exasperated. “This person isn’t serious. All the letters said things like ‘Hope you fall on the stairs and injure yourself’ and similar”.

“Not the last few. They were more explicit. And wishing someone got stabbed on the street is no joke!” Phichit was frustrated to say the least, since Yuuri wasn’t taking the threats seriously. He grabbed the envelope and opened it. “And this one is bad enough to finally listen to me and go to the police!” He exclaimes as he stood up and gave Yuuri the letter. The second read it, eyes widening in surprise (or maybe, finally, fear) and looked at the other two.

“Ok, this one is bad. ‘I will put a bullet through your skull for what you did’. What the hell did I do?”

“Don’t know, Yuuri. But Phichit is right. I’ll call a friend. He can help us” Bella said. As Yuuri was about to protest, she snapped. “No buts! Your life in stake here. This has gone on for way too long! And you are not a burden!” she added as a good measure.

Sighing deeply, Yuuri considered the situation. A Month or so ago, the first letter had arrived. It contained nothing more than a wish for Yuuri to go away. It had been so innocuous, that not even Phichit had cared. The next three, delivered two days apart each, had been similar. This had raised Phichit’s attention but, as they were similar to the first, they had been promptly ignored. But the next ones had been variations of “fall on a ditch and die” to “hope you get stung by a swarm of bees”. The escalation had worried the other two, but they were still not direct threats. This one was.

“Fine. Call him. See if we can meet today. We only have two more meetings and they shouldn’t even run long.”

Phichit looked at him as if he wanted to protest but kept it to himself. Yuuri knew he was stubborn, and his best friend knew it better. So, trying to convince him of leaving early was not going to happen.

“Fine. We’ll do it your way. Bella, do us a favour and get all the letters and envelopes ready to go”.

“Got it. And you should probably go, your next meeting is in five”

With that, the two friends gathered their things and put the letter behind them for a while. An idiot with time to cut out magazines to make weird letters shouldn’t be their priority.

The office was well lit but today the weather was the sole provider of light since it was shinning almost annoyingly brightly in his opinion. Viktor’s mood wasn’t ideal. He didn’t have a reason per se. It was just one of those days when you just were in your best headspace.

Although he wasn’t completely ignorant to his conundrum. Part of his foul temper this day was a result of his caseload. Not the amount of it. Far from it, Viktor loved his job and loved being busy while at work. No, the problem was the victims of said cases.

He had had the fortune (or misfortune) of being assigned a big kidnapping case as soon as he was made detective because, even if it was never acknowledged, all the other cops knew that if the kidnapped person didn’t make it back, it was going to be the end of whoever took the case. And Viktor, well…Viktor was Viktor. He took it, risked everything and got both the victim and the perpetrators back alive.

Since then, every big-time victim that came into the precinct asked for him. This meant his reputation grew, and so did his success rate, which was of 85%. But this also meant dealing with some pretty big-headed people. Don’t get him wrong. He would always help whoever had been wronged. But some of his “clients” were far from nice people or, at the very least, very self-centred.

And part of Viktor’s reasons for becoming a cop and, eventually, a detective, was to help the abandoned and ignored. Not that all of his cases were high profile. But his priorities were usually shaken at their axis when one happened while he was working on something else.

Therefore, his lack of enthusiasm this day was rooted in this dilemma. As he pondered all this and drank his coffee, his phone rang.

“Hi Bells! What’s up?”

“Hey Viks! Not great if I’m being honest”

That was unusual. Isabella was rarely off herself. JJ was more volatile. But his college friend was unusually frazzled.  

“What’s wrong? You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s my bosses. Well, one of them actually. Do you think you have time to meet them?”

Viktor would. For Bells, he would always. The only person who hadn’t withdrawn when he abandoned his legal career for his cop one. The rest had tried to come back when he had succeeded. But she had never and hadn’t let her idiot husband be like that either (the guy was good and loved her, but something was an arrogant ass…a very odd combo in Viktor’s opinion.)

“Yes, wanna send them now?”

She sighed long.

“No, they hope you can see them at 4. Yuuri has barely agreed to go and only if he gets to finish his work day as normal”.

Bella sounded exasperated. Viktor laughed.

“Tired?”

“They are brilliant but sometimes they are as frustrating as JJ in very different ways. So, is 4 ok?”

“4 is fine. I’ll see them then.”

“Thanks, Viks. I’ll owe you!”

“Forget it. Gotta go, got work to do”

“Yeah, me too. Bye and thanks again!”

So, with that, Viktor got back to work with a slight change in mood. Now, his curiosity would carry him for the rest of the day. What sort of people were they that they got Bells worried and annoyed at the same time? He couldn’t wait.


	2. Chapter 2

The meeting was drawing near and Viktor couldn’t help but wonder what sort of people he was going to meet. He usually had dinner with Bella and, unluckily, JJ, once a month. So, he wasn’t exactly clueless: he knew the company was relatively knew but very popular and quite successful. He also knew it was run by two best friends, both game developers, and both geeks to the core. But she never described them more than one being a workaholic with blue glasses and a bad record when it came down to relationships, and the other as a constant ray of sunshine who was capable of murder if anyone so much as looked the people he cared about in the wrong way.

With this little info, Viktor’s imagination went old-time cliché regarding this intriguing pair: he imagined the Japanese man to be properly fat, with ugly glasses and little concern for his appearance while he pictured the other as tanned, short man, who, for some unfathomable reason, had adult’s acne and carried a fanny pack. They resemble the nerds in The Simpsons a bit too much. He should probably stop watching the show so much. But the oldest episodes are simply classics.

Anyway, he didn’t have too much time to duel on it though. He had to inform Yakov and his team of the meeting and the possible case that was coming their way. The meeting was something they did every other day to keep everyone on the loop, especially their old captain. The man had stopped working the field years ago, when an old back injury put him behind a desk for good. So, he enjoyed these little meetings, made him feel more than just another bureaucrat leaching out of his subordinates (his words, Yakov talked a lot while drunk). That and the team usually got good feedback since he was an experience set of fresh eyes when they got stuck.

“So, is that all?” Yakov grunted.

“No, there’s one more thing. It’s not a case yet”

“Explain yourself!”

_Always so patient_ , Viktor thought. “A friend of mine is coming in for a meeting. She didn’t quite give the details, but apparently her boss has been steadily threatened over the past month and today…well, today seems to have gotten away from _possible joke_ and right into _this guy wants me dead_ ”.

“That could be serious. Who are they?” Georgi inquired, badly concealing his curiosity. If Viktor was sick of the high-profile cases, Georgi was just the opposite. The more famous, the better for him.

“They own a game developing compaly, PCWK I think…”

“Ohh, don’t let Yura know!” Mila squaled.

_So he had heard the company name from someone other than Bella._ “Why?”

“That’s the company he wants to work with! He loves their games and was so pissed that he had to spend all his allowance in his college books! He still wants to buy their latest game!”

“I always forget how close you are with my cousin, god know why?”

_So, they were rather famous and with quite a reputation if volatile, picky, Yura wanted to work for them._

“Anyhow, they are coming in and we will se if this is something truly concerning or not.”

“Take it seriously, a company like that has real enemies. And keep us posted” Yakov said gruffly. “In the meantime, get back to work. Crime doesn’t…”

“Solve itself!” Chorused the three to their boss chagrin. He looked like he could use a vodka right now as they left. The poor mand had lost most of his hair when Viktor first became an officer in his precinct.

The hours went by slowly. The amount of work, regardless of its importance, wasn’t much. He checked in with Georgi and Mila, both of whom where mostly tying loose ends in their caseload so the DA wouldn’t give them any crap, and then spend his early evening finishing reports. He was sitting at his desk, casefiles filed up around him and a half-cold, half-empty cup of coffee in his hand when someone knocked on his open door (he refused to close it. If he was his team’s superior, he needed to be available).

“Hello handsome!” Bella said, leaning on his door with her arms crossed. She was a beautiful woman, even he could appreciate it. “Busy?”

“Bored, actually. Too much paper work. This is not why I joined the force!” He whined dramatically.

“Don’t be a drama queen, you are going to give them a bad first impression!”

“Me? Never!” He replied, hand on his chest and the other across his forehead. Thank his mother for his dramatics, Yakov used to say (how those two had become friends in their college years, Viktor never understood).

“He’s an idiot.” Came a low voice from behind her and Viktor finally noticed the two men standing by her. One had dark skin, big eyes and a fashionable brown leather jacket over a white button up. The other had blue-rimmed glasees, messy black hair and the most beautiful brown eyes Viktor had ever seen. He was gorgeous from head to toes, in his skinny black jeans, his gray t-shirt with a v-neck and his jean jacket. And, to Viktor’s utter surprised, was looking at him with a scowl.

_He said I’m an idiot?_

“Oh, come on, one can be a little silly from time to time” he tried to make a comeback which was promptly shut down when the scowl deepened.

“If you said so…”the man sounded less than convinced but let it go.

Bella cleared her throat. “Vik, these are Phichit Chulanont” She pointed to the first man. “and Yuuri Katsuki” she pointed to the gorgeous and annoyed man. “They are the people I talked to you about?”

“Oh” _Yes, way to sound smart Viktor. Great way to improve his first impression of you!_ “Sorry, yes, I remember, the threat letters. I have to admit, you are nothing like what I imagined”. _Not better!_ Yelled a voice inside his head.

The three of them took a seat across his desk. The guy with the glasses was looking less and less convinced at the meeting as the seconds ticked by.

“Don’t worry. Nobody is ever prepared for us!” Phichit said with a malicious glint in his eyes. “You, like everybody else, hears the words game developers and go full on cliché with what we are supposed to look!” Viktor swallowed hard, suddenly feeling very caught out. “They either expect a couple of chubby, acne ridden and fashion lacking teens or couple of old, balding men. There’s no in between. Damn stereotypes, don’t you think?”

Well, this was going amazingly. “Yes, you are absolutely right” He had been stereotyped all his life. He should have known better. “Well, why don’t we get to business, shall we?” Everyone seemed relieved at the change of direction.

“These have been arriving at the office for the past month. They are all addressed to Yuuri. The envelope itself is always blank and white, but inside Yuuri’s name or surname is always written at the top”

Yuuri squirmed in his seat, looking pointedly at anything but the envelopes or Viktor. The detective could tell that the man was, at the very least, uncomfortable with the situation. He took the envelopes Bella had described and check them out. There was nothing distinctive about them. He took his time, counted how many there were, what they said. He was careful to keep the order they had been presented in. And his eyes started to widen as he neared today’s letter.

“Ok, there are 23 three envelopes, with corresponding letter. I understand why you didn’t take the first few seriously. I wouldn’t have either. But beginning a week and a half ago, they are rather concerning. They start mentioning bodily harm, even if they aren’t direct about inflicting it.”

Viktor stopped his analysis as he noticed the dense silence in the room. Phichit and Bella looked simply terrified. Yuuri, on the other hand, was determinedly keeping as much a straight face as he could, although it was obvious he was pissed off.

“That is probably what you suspected. I will have this catalogued and sent to the lab. There’s a chance that we can find some prints, DNA or maybe narrow down the possible perpetrator through the magazines and papers he’s been cutting out.”

With this he got up and went to the door under the expectant gazes of his guests.

“Mila! Can you come here please?”

As he walked to his desk, he notices Yuuri’s eyes followed his every moved and the man also looked flustered, regardless of the scowl still on his face.

“Yes, boss?” she said with a smirk.

“Ever gonna let that go? The only boss here is Yakov. Go call him ‘boss’”

“Yeah, and get myself fired? Thanks, but no thanks. What do you need?”

“We have a new case, officially. Have this catalogued and sent for analysis. Mark it as a priority. I‘ll fill you all in later.”

The joke was obviously over. “Got it. I will tell them to hurry up then. I’ll let you know as soon as the results come back.”

She was gone before Viktor could even fathom the thought of introducing her.

“Sorry, she is one of my detectives in this unit. Mila Babicheva. Jokes a lot but is one of the best investigators we have. Now, I need to ask you a few questions. First, can you think of anyone who could have a grudge against you, Mr. Katsuki?”

“Mr. Katsuki is my dad, Katsuki or Yuuri please.” He came across as angry, even though Viktor could tell it was a façade. His arms were cross, as his legs, and he avoided eye contact as much as possible. “And no, I can’t. I usually don’t draw attention to myself.”

Viktor had a hard time accepting that statement and was suddenly proved right when Phihit smirked.

“Wanna add anything, Mr. Chulanont?”

“God, what am I, 90? Phichit is fine. And Yes. I would like to add something here” and with that, he turned and faced his best friend straight on. “You ARE NOT someone who goes unnoticed. Wherever we go, you have the attention of every single pair of eyes in the room.”

“Then why did he say otherwise?” Viktor asked confused, looking between the two friends who were currently having a stare off.

“Because my friend here can’t see himself properly even with a telescope.” He looked dead serious and dead annoyed at the same time. “I love you Yuuri but you can’t tell the effect you have on people. I have videos…” he caught Viktor’s curious look and added “yes, in plural, where people tripped over themselves because you walked by!”

“Those were in college!”

“Some are from the launch party a month ago! My point is, you are completely oblivious to it, but people are drawn to you. And you unknowingly break their hearts sometimes”

Viktor could tell Yuuri was about to protest when he got shushed by Bella.

“We know you don’t do it on purpose, don’t fell attacked or anything. But you have a combination of qualities that attract people.”

“But, as to anyone who could have actual reason for it, no. I can’t think of anyone. Maybe his ex, but Yuuri got dumped in that case, so…”

“That is still someone, I’ll need her name…”

“His name in Mark Stevens. Went to college together. Dated for almost three years before, and I am quoting him, he got tired to being second to everything else in my life. This was about a year ago, right in the middle of P. I. developing face. I tend to be a bit of a workacoholic, so that didn’t work. I’ll give you his info if you need anyway”

Viktor’s brain was doing the conga because _He’s gay!_ And the fact that he had called Viktor an idiot didn’t register in his radar. Still, he had work to do, first an foremost.

“Yes, that would be useful. And work related?”

“Well, we don’t usually have bad blood. But there was this one developer, Tony, who we fired about a month ago.” Phichit said, a grim look on his face.

“That’s primising. Why did you let him go?”

“Well, you know how there is a genre known as gore in, well, everything?” Phichit waited for Viktor’s nod before continuing. “Well, this guy presented a game that was supposed to be it. But, Nikiforov, you have no idea what his concept art was like!” Both Phchit and Yuuri Shuddered at the memory.

“You two never let me see that” Bella commented with a pensive look.

“You are better of that way. He proposed not only blod and scare jumps. This made the Saw Saga look mild. He basically expected people to know how to dismember a body, literally.” Yuuri looked haunted by the memory alone.

“When we rejected his project because it didn’t align with our general focus as a company” Phichit kept explaining, “well, he didn’t take it well and started to insult us in the conference room. Sometimes criticism is hard to accept, but this involved him throwing whatever was at hand at us. We called security and let him go in that moment”

“A fully justified move but to a disturbed mind, it could be the trigger” Viktor commented outloud. “If you think of anything else, no matter how small, please let me know. I would like to get to know the company in person…”

“We don’t want out employees thinking we believe it’s them. What’s more, they don’t know about the letters!” Yuuri exclaimed, looking Viktor dead in the eye for once. And, once again, Viktor had to collect his thoughts because his first impression on Katsuki was unchangeable: the man was beautiful. And apparently didn’t like him one bit. Just his luck.

“I don’t plan on presenting myself there as a cop. I want to observe without calling the attention. Since the envelopes are unmark, there’s a high chance that they have some sort of access to the office.” That seemed to calm Yuuri down. “Maybe use my connection to Bella and play myself as an investor or something.”

Both friends looked at each other and then at Bella before nodding.

“Give tomorrow to run with what we already know and see if something comes from the analysis and then I’ll contact you visit the office.”

“Yes. Thank you” Yuuri said.

“Am I still an idiot?” Viktor asked, amused that he had been thanked for doing his job.

“Until you actually solve this, yes. My opinion hasn’t changed” And with that, Yuuri got up to leave while Phichit followed at the same time he was trying to suppress a laugh.

Viktor hadn’t felt this dumbstruck in years. His heart was racing, and he knew he was blushing a bit.

“Is he always like that?”

“You mean brutally blunt and almost rude? Sometimes. He tends to be very polite, but this has gotten under his skin. And so, it seems, did you”

“Me, he hates me.” _Apparently_ , Viktor Thought bitterly.

“Vik, trust me, he doesn’t. You annoy him, yes, but he definitely doesn’t hate you. Au contrair mon ami. Au contrair…”

And with that, Bella left Viktor to his own mind. After all, hope was hard to fight when it looked like Yuuri Katsuki did. Viktor was in trouble.

“You think his hot!” Phichit sang as soon as they were on the street.

“I most definitely don’t” Yuuri countered, trying not to think about the detective’s rear end. That was one fine ass, but he would be damned if he let Phichit know that. Although, his less coherent side had appreciated the opportunity to observe the man properly: those long legs, that ass, his obviously lean but built structure under his suit. Yuuri was as good as doomed and Phichit shouldn’t know. He would let Yuuri live it down.

“Yes, and I am the queen of England. He was one hell of a specimen and, hadn’t we been there because of those damn letters, you wouldn’t have called him an idiot”

Yuuri blushed at the memory. He had found the dramatics rather idiotic, yes, and had said so aloud too. But he had also thought the man charming. But he now believed Yuuri was an arrogant arse and his chances were probably as low as 0.

“Even if I did like him, which I don’t…”

“Keep telling yourself that, pal”

“…He is working on this. Therefor, nothing is going to happen”

With that statement, he walked off in the direction of their car.

“Yeah, right. Leave it to me. I get you both your stalker and your man. Just watch me!” Phichit claimed as he chased his best friend across the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Almost didn't make it but here it is! Hope you enjoy it! Click [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/yoificsandmore) to visit my YOI tumblr!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Life's been hectic. Hopefully, I will be able to post the next one on thursday, but I make no promises! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are lovely! And remember you can find me on tumblr! Have a nice day everyone! :-)

“So, did we get anything from the leads we were given?” Viktor asked the next morning, coffee in hand. A whole day had gone by since the meeting.

“I’m afraid not” Mila answered. “All the info about the disgruntled employee is useless. The guy seems to have vanished from the face of the earth this past month.”

“That’s not good and very suspicious at the same time”

“We know. His home is empty. He moved like two months ago and no one knows where.  He doesn’t have friends. His family says he doesn’t contact them since he finished high school and moved out. All we have is the file of his law suit against PCYK” Mila finished her report.

“We do know which law firm he used for that.” Georgi chimed in. “They can’t see us until tomorrow, but they will help”

“Why?” Viktor’s question was met with curious looks. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. Lawyers rarely help when it concerns clients or similar”.

“Apparently, he became a former client rather quickly. I don’t have the details yet, but he didn’t have a case, so they dropped him. He wasn’t happy about it”.

“Well, tomorrow we’ll know for sure. What about the ex?”

“He’s clear. He moved all the way across the country for work after the separation. I checked, and he hasn’t been back in a few months.”

“Well then. Keep tracking the employee. Still looks like the most likely perpetrator. But in the meantime, I will go scout the company. It’s still not too late, so I’ll call them to set it up for today.”

“Ok, we’ll keep working on it. And about the law firm…” Georgi started.

“You two meet with them. If I happen to be back, I’ll join you. If not, you know what to do”

“Duh! We are trained detectives after all. By the way, why didn’t you tell them your actual rank is Sargeant?” Mila looked amused. She had found the whole exchange with Yuuri and Phichit hilarious to say the least.

“There’s no need to brag. And let’s face it, detective sounds sexier.”

They both snorted at his arrogance.

“Your charms won’t get you into his good grace on their own, you know?”

“Shh, Gosha. You know I am more than a pretty face”

“Of course, I do, you are an idiot!” Georgi quipped, and Mila almost chocked on her coffee cup.

“You two enjoyed that a bit too much!”

“Yes!” was the unison response.

Viktor just shook his head as his subordinates left the conference room. It was barely 8:30, so if he wanted to intercept his target, he needed to move soon. He grabbed his phone and dialled the PCYK’s office number as he made his way to his office, somehow balancing papers, folders, coffee and cell between his two hands, his head and his shoulder.

It only rang twice.

“PCYK, you’ve reached Phichit. How can I help you in this beautiful, Instagram worthy day?”

Viktor rolled his eyes. He could hear the smile and the sunshine in his voice. Was this man always like this? He would have to ask Bella.

“Morning Phichit. This is Viktor Nikiforov”

“Oh, good morning to you too. How’s our favourite idiot doing?”

“Hoping that would go away soon”

“Nope. Yuuri is the one who has to take it away. Until he does, you are stuck with it”

_Great!_

“Fine, I’ll change his mind!”

“Muahahahhahaha”

“What’s so funny?”

“You, thinking you can actually change his mind. But, oh well! Who knows?”

Viktor was starting to get irritated. The lack of progress his team had made was grating on his nerves and the supposition that he wasn’t good at his job didn’t help. He must have been quiet for too long, because Chulanont spoke again.

“Hey, you know we are teasing right? Bella’s word and your reputation speak volumes for you”

“Yeah, I know. But we didn’t get far on the two leads, so I wanna get started on checking your environment. I was hoping to make the way to the office with Katsuki, all the way from his building to the office. I wanna get a feeling of what his routine is like and if he could have angered anyone in route. Can you help me reach him?”

“I can give you his address. He should be going out in about half an hour. So you should be able to catch him as he leaves his apartment.”

“Won’t he mind that I didn’t call first?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll call him and inform him”

“Ok, I guess. Send me the address. Thanks Chulanont”

“You are welcome Nikiforov. And don’t worry too much about the idiot thing, Yuuri didn’t mean it as you took it”

“Yeah, right!”

“Well, I guess you’ll have to get to know our sinnamon roll better yourself! Just keep him safe, please?”

There was something so vulnerable in that request, that Viktor let go his cynical retort and opted for reassuring the happiest half of PCYK.

“Hey, I know it. And I will keep him safe”

“Thank you.”

“And why do I get the feeling that, even though this is a verbal conversation, you meant it as in Sin and not just the pastry?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Now hurry. He is always on time.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you around Chulanont”

“See ya soon Nikiforov”

The line went dead, and Viktor had to wrap himself around the human oddity that Phichit Chulanont was. And didn’t he just imply that he knew Viktor liked his friend? Well, something else to think on the way to Yuuri’s place, whose address arrived as he let was leaving his office.

 _Well,_ he thought _, if he knows, maybe he’ll help me._

It was cloudy as Yuuri made his way to his apartment entrance. He wished a good day to his building’s doorman and made his way outside. He had barely reached the sidewalk when a voice caught him completely off guard, so much so that he almost dropped his bag.

“Yuuuri!”

_Was this guy always so extra?_

“Detective Nikiforov, morning. Now, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Viktor please” he said, with a thousand-kilowatts smile.

“Viktor, how on earth do you know where I live?” This was giving him a headache too early and that was Phichit’s job.

“Well, as I told you the other day, I wanted to follow you since we got nothing with our inquiries so far”

“Couldn’t we have met at the office?”

“Yes. But the idea is to scout everything in your routine. That includes your way to work. And regarding your address, your partner Phichit gave it to me”

This was suddenly making a whole lot more sense. Yuuri removed his glasses as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Phichit was going to die.

Before he could utter another word though, a small, tentative, woof caught both men’s attention. Yuuri saw the exact moment Viktor’s eyes focused on the dog carrier he had hung from his shoulder. Great, now he was going to get judged for taking his dog to work (no everyone agreed with the practice, but for Yuuri and his anxiety, it was the best idea anyone had ever had).

“You have a dog there?”

“Yes, my toy poodle.” And then he unzipped the top for the small ball of brown curls to poke its head out. “His name is Vicchan”

And this was the moment he would get judged: for taking his dog to work, for having a toy poodle, for its name, etc.

Or at least that’s what he thought, because…

“Awwww, he’s so cute! Wait, is he a he or a she? No, you said his name is Vicchan. So, it’s a boy. It sounds like my diminutive in Russian: Vitya. Can I pet him? Are you taking him for a walk or to work?”

Yuuri was dumbfounded. The man had instantly turned from annoying to an actual puppy. He was beaming as if Christmas had come early. But then, a blush took over the Russian’s features and he looked embarrassed.

“Sorry, I like dogs and I get a little over enthusiastic around them. You don’t have to ans…”

“I’m taking him to work. We will go for a walk on the way there. He doesn’t always come with me. But his presence helps a lot when I’m feeling anxious”.

“Yeah, my Makkachin is amazing when I’m feeling worse for wear, regardless if it’s physical or emotional, you know?”

“Yeah, I do. What’s yours like?”

“A regular poodle. My baby girl is getting old though. But, looking at him closely, they look a lot alike…well, except for the size. She wouldn’t fit in a bag”

The both of them lauged and, once Viktor pet Vicchan, they got on their way to the coffee shop.

“Do you always come here?”

“Yes. It’s my favourite. Mainly for the pastries. But I don’t get those every day. I gain weight easily, so…”

“Since you moved here?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Thinking anyone here could be the one doing it?”

“It’s a possibility. For now, I will analyse every option.”

“What about the employee?”

“Interesting, not asking for your ex?”

Yuuri’s glared could have made any other man recoil. Other man, not Viktor. Well, not completely.

“Easy. Just, most people would be curious about their exes, that’s all. The employee is MIA. No one can find him. We are talking to his lawyers tomorrow, the one’s in charge of his lawsuit?” Yuuri nodded. He remembered them well, they had been oddly nice for lawyers. “We hope they can shed some light on his whereabouts. And as for your ex…” He got glared at again. “he moved to another state and hasn’t been back in months, so he’s out”.

Viktor had a shit eating grin. Yuuri wasn’t sure why, but he was glad his ex hadn’t done it. He may have broken up with Yuuri, but he had cared for him anyway.

“So now you are gonna shadow me? Are we telling people who you are or…?”

“No, not yet.”

“Then, what are you supposed to be?”

Viktor stopped abruptly and looked at him with wide eyes. A playful glint came of those blue eyes and Yuuri knew he was fucked, and not In the fun way.

“What? Don’t I look like a game developer?”

_Teasing. He’s teasing you!_

“Mmmm, maybe if we got rid of that fringe and got you some ugly glasses”

A hand flew to Viktor’s hair, a scandalized yelp indignantly escaping his lips. “Stay away from my hair, you heathen!”

And that did it. That was it. Yuuri officially had a crush on the silly detective working his case. Fuck.

“Coward”

The pout directed his way told Yuuri he was gonna fall, if he hadn’t already. Luckily for him, they had finally arrived at the coffee shop. They order their drinks and went to the park nearby to let Vicchan stretch his legs and do his business.  The dog had way too much energy to burn, but Viktor was delighted to play fetch with the pup. Yuuri had a hard time not “awing” right then and there at the cuteness overload.

When Yuuri’s phone rang, he knew exactly who it was without looking at his phone’s screen. He had set only one contact’s info to ring with Demi Lovato’s annoying but accurate song “Confident”.

“Morning Peach”

“You are lateee!” he sinsonged.

“Sorry, didn’t notice the time. I’m with Viktor y Vicchan in the park.”

“So, you got sidetracked?” He could have bet on his best friend wiggling his eyebrows right now.

“Not much. Just playing catch with Vicchan.”

Viktor looked at him then and raised an eyebrow as he approached with the tiny poodle wriggling in his arms.

“Phichit. We are late”

“No we…” his words died in his mouth as he checked his watch. A sheepish smile took over. “We should have been there fifteen minutes ago”

Phichit heard the exchange through the phone and snorted.

“Quite the pair you are” he said loud enough for Viktor to hear.

“Shh, we’ll be there in a few.”

“Whatever you say, boss”

The line went dead. Yuuri could strangle his best friend sometimes. He still didn’t know how he hadn’t yet. His attention got diverted when he heard laughter come from his companion.

“I haven’t been late to anything since freshman year when I embarrassed myself in front of the one teacher I had to make a good first impression”

“It couldn’t have been that bad”

They had started walking towards the office, Vicchan still happily accommodated in Viktor’s arms.

“Wanna bet? He taught at least one class each semester all through my career. And I arrived at his class twenty minutes late, during his introduction speech and, as he pointed out, I still had my pajama bottoms on and my shirt inside out.”

“Oh my god!”

“I was asked to take a seat and listen to the class as I was. Four hours later, I just wanted to crawl under a rock. Luckily, I made a good impression every class since then and Ciao Ciao…” An eyebrow was again raised in his direction. He could have sworn that eyebrow was going to drive him mad. “The teacher. Ciao Ciao Cialdini.”

“Wait, I know that name. Isn’t he the technology savant that founded so many companies?”

“Yep. Well, he was one of our main investors and I now he’s a good friend. The point is, you’ve cause to be late for the first time in almost ten years”

“Hey! I don’t pay attention to time when there is a poodle around” The blinding heart-shaped smile he directed to his dog and then to Yuuri could have put a country on its knees.

“Don’t you play with yours?”

“Yeah, but it’s so cute when they are this small!”

“You are a kid”

“Yes, when dogs are involved, I’m exactly that”

Yuuri was the one cackling this time. With the banter they didn’t realize they had made it to the building. Yuuri took the puppy back and put him into his carrier before entering. They made to the office and got greeted by most of Yuuri’s staff.

“God, I’m so late!”

“We don’t mind”

Arriving at his and Phichit’s office, both him and Isabella were waiting for them. The grins they sported were something else and Yuuri wanted to slap them off so badly. But all he could actually do was blush.

“Morning Bells!”

“Morning sunshine. Did you find our Yuuri fine?”

“Just fine, thanks. Although it would have been good if you had informed him that I was going”

Phichit had the decency of at least looking sheepish.

“Sorry, got side-tracked. Can you blame me?”

“Yes” was the unison response. They moved into the office and got settled, Yuuri releasing Vicchan from his carrier. The pup went straight for his water bowl and his little bed.

“So, today I was hoping to scout the company. Nothing caught my eye on the way here…”

“Nothing? Seriously?” The eyebrow wiggle that accompanied the question made both targets blush and Bella snicker.

Viktor cleared his throat in hopes of regaining some sort of composure before he continued “…nothing on the route seemed likely to be the cause of our problem, so there’s a good likelihood that it comes from within”

“From within? You mean PCYK?” The humour from the morning was gone now from Yuuri’s voice.

“Maybe, maybe from some of the other tenants of the building? None of the letters had stamps. They were personally delivered to the bulk of the incoming company mail. So, any of the options could be right”

“I could give you a list of all the tenants in the building, Vik”

“You could? Shouldn’t I ask the landlord? Or the owner?”

“Wait, you don’t know? We own the building” Bella told him, matter-of-factly. “When the money started rolling in, they decided to invest it. Some went to expanding the company, some to real state. Real state gave back way more than expected, so the decision was made to build PCYK own building. The top 4 floors are our company. But the other 20 are rented out to other companies. This way, we have a steady flow of income and we can take some risks with our projects.”

“And who again said this was a small company?” Viktor’s bafflement at the size and capabilities of PCYK was going nowhere apparently.

“There are bigger” Yuuri defended himself.

“That doesn’t make you small honey!”

 _Honey. Honey. Honey. Honey. Honey!_  Yuuri was about to short circuit.

Phichit cleared his throat and got them back on track.

“So, you wouldn’t pass as a developer. Just, not. But you could pass as as possible investor. We could tell our employees to answer all your questions since you could be bringing a lot of money for the next big project? How does it sound?”

“That could be great. How do you normally go about your day?”

The next hour was spent debriefing Viktor on the way the company worked. Afterwards, he spent some time touring the floors to get to meet everyone (or as many of them as possible). By the time they stopped to eat lunch, Viktor was exhausted and overwhelmed. Yuuri could tell he was surprised by the amount of work it took to launch a game.

“You have designers, storytellers, programmers, lawyers, an administration department and an accountability one. This place is huge.”

“What were you expecting?” the amusement In Isabella’s voice was more than evident. The four of them were having lunch in Yuuri’s and Phichit’s office.

“I honestly don’t know. Just, not this?”

“Such an under appreciated game developing is” said Phichit, mouth half full of a spring roll.

“Definitely. And the amount of people!”

“Well, you’ll be getting to know them a bit more in the evening. We’ll be hearing pitches until 4.” Yuuri explained as he fed half his roll to the poodle begging with his front paws on his knees. Viktor was a weak man for Yuuri already and the scene didn’t help.

The evening started with a proposal for a trivia game. The developer in this case was a team. Leo and Guang Hong had proposed a sports-oriented game that would fall into the freemium type for games. Yuuri and Phichit gave it the green light for a beta to be tested the other month.

The next was a mobile game that simulated life inside a hospital. You could control several characters at the same time and chose a specialty. This was supposed to be a paid game and the developer, Curtis, one of the oldest in the company, wasn’t sure about the prospected sales. So, he got sent to review if the pay-to-play format worked for mobile or if this could be better as a pc game.

The last one was Letti again. She and her partner, Guy, who had missed the last presentation due to the flu, presented a new game.

“Ok, we scratched the original project since, after giving it a thorough review, we realize the similarities were a few too many. So, our new idea is a MMORPG. The main character (which would be customizable according to the players preferences) would have to travel the real world and gain experience through travelling and dealing with tasks that would arise in the real world.”

“That doesn’t sound interesting”

Everyone looked around to see that Viktor had commented on the pitch. When he noticed all eyes on him, he went scarlet.

“Sorry, I am supposed to be an spectator”

“Don’t worry Viktor.” The reassurance in Yuuri’s voice made the detective relax. Then, he tuned to the team in front of him and added “but he isn’t wrong. What would a world-traveling game offer?”

“Contact with other people, knowledge, traveling tips” Guy defended his partners idea.

“Look, it doesn’t really sound that interesting. Maybe if it were for VR but that technology is barely staking off and not that widespread, which would leave you with a very limited amount of prospective users.”

“I mean, the idea was to be alluring to those for whom traveling is far more than a luxury…”

Phichit cut her off this time.

“This could work, but it doesn’t feel like a full project yet. Work on your target, your systems and then come back to us.”

“But…”

“We are not saying no, just not like this. It could work, but a good focus group would benefit it immensely. Take your time, do it right and Phichit and I will see you in a month or so.”

“Ok. Thank you” Letti said. Guy just seemed about to retort, but she dragged him out before he could.

“Do you two normally have to tell people off?” Viktor asked, eyes still glued to the door through which the two disappointed people had left.

“We don’t tell them off. But give them feedback. Usually, if something needs work, it results in a second or maybe third pitch. Somethings do get scratched for good, like the guy you are investigating” Phichit commented as he took some notes. Yuuri was beside him writing on his phone’s calendar.

“Not Letti though. She usually gets it right the first time. She was one of the brains behind our PC game, P.I. I guess the pressure has gotten to her though. It’s a matter of time before she gets her head back on.”

“You two seem to have a lot of hope on them” The surprise was evident in his voice, awe etched across his features.

“Well, if you choose them to work for you, you must have seen something in them, don’t you think?”

That made a lot of sense for Viktor who suddenly saw himself, a fresh cadet out of the academy, as he watched Yakov hand pick him for his team.

_“He’s a lawyer turned cop!”_

_“He looks pretty, but that’s probably it!”_

_“You are gonna get stuck if you choose him!”_

Yakov didn’t listen to those haters. No. He smiled, a tight, thin line across his face, and walked away. Viktor remembered thinking he could have defended him. But in retrospect, keeping him on his team spoke volumes more than what words could have achieve. It always seemed funny to Viktor how 20/20 hinsight was.

“Viktor?”

He pulled himself out of memory lane and looked around to discover Phichit gone and Yuuri giving him the cutest, head-tilted-in-confusion look ever.

“Sorry, got distracted.”

“You ok?”

“Never better”

Yuuri was going to say something, but it got lost in the air as the door opened and Bella came in, Phichit trailing behind, and both looking concerned. They didn’t need to ask. The envelope in their hands was loud and clear. Another letter.

“What does it say this time?” There was a slight tremor to Yuuri’s voice, his demeanour suddenly tense.

“A letter and a picture” Both were handed over. Viktor grabbed them with a handkerchief to avoid any extra contamination of possible evidence and read it aloud.

“Your pretty boyfriend won’t be able to protect you from me”

The tension grew so thick it was almost palpable. Viktor put the letter back into the envelope and concentrated on the photo in question. A photo of today. Of him and Viktor and Vicchan standing outside the office. Vicchan in Viktor’s arms and them both looking relaxed and happy.

“Fuck”

“Yuuri, this seems to cement my first impression of an inside job”

“Fuck”

“Yuuri”

“He’s gonna hurt you too now” His breathing had accelerated and before Viktor thought about too much, he turned, grabbed the dog and put him in his owner’s arms. The effect was immediate, a combination of both shock and the small pup’s warmth in his arms.

“You panicking now won’t help. Keep your head on your shoulders. He isn’t smart. He’s just organized and careful. But this proves we shook him. I am coming back tomorrow and as many days after as it’s needed, ok? This won’t go unsolved.”

“Those are big words”

“Maybe. But I’m planning on upholding my reputation. Do you trust me?”

_I barely know him. He’s an idiot. A smart one, but an idiot. I can’t possibly trust him already! I can’t!_

“Yes”


	4. Chapter 4

The next week so them falling into a routine. Viktor woke, walked Makkachin, dropped her off at doggy day-care and then went straight for Yuuri apartment building. He would wait in the hall outside it, wave hello to the doorman (who never waved back, always wore a serious face and looked as if the world had personally insulted him) and waited for Yuuri to come downstairs.

This didn’t always include his furry companion since Yuuri usually had his elderly neighbour care for him with her own toy poodle Lucy. The office is boring for him _. It would be cruel to have him cooped up in there while I work when he could spend the day in the sun with his friend_ , he had explained to Viktor the first time the little fluffball didn’t come with them.

By now, even the barista at Yuuri’s coffee shop knew who he was and what his drink was. And Viktor could have sworn his face fell every time he realized Yuuri wasn’t on his own. Yuuri would deny it vehemently though. _The guy is nice to everyone, you are imagining things. Just like Phichit who insist that him and half of our classmates back in college had a crush on me_ , the oblivious Japanese man would explain while rolling his eyes. Obviously, Viktor call it BS and spoke to Phichit who confirmed that not only half the students, but also half the staff in general, now and before, have a crush on Yuuri. _The amounts of time I’ve tried to make him see the light! But he is a force of nature, dense as only he can be!_ The Thai man had complained.

Viktor had gone to the office after Yuuri had left work every day since. The lawyers had been pushing the meeting repeatedly, claiming they had been summoned to court or that their case loads had increase. These sorts of things were one of the issues that had Viktor celebrating his change in career choice.

On this particular day, he come into the office early. Georgi had informed him late the night before that the lawyers had confirmed the meeting for noon and, since que had some work to catch up on, Viktor had fired a text to Yuuri informing him of the development and that he was hoping to meet him early in the evening with some useful developments. Yuuri had texted back that he’d see him for lunch at one and added a smiley face that had Viktor’s heart planning their weeding.

_Too soon. Too. Fucking. Soon. Solve his case and then get a DATE out of the man. That’s how it should go._ He chided himself as he went to bed.

Since the last letter, there hadn’t been others. Still, it didn’t mean they were safe. It just meant that the unknown subject (as a cop he understood the need of something to call the law-breakers) had a cooling period for some reason.

Now, at the ungodly hour of six am, he was sat at his desk, wrapping up reports and finishing his second cup of coffee of the day. His brain was half on the page he was reading (a report on how his team caught a peeping Tom at the All Stars Spa and Salon on the other side of town – the guy had been sneaking in and placing spy cams in the women’s lockers and got caught retrieving them dresses as a female client) and half reviewing the details he had from PCYK’s case.

It had to be someone connected to the building, at the very least, if the envelopes were anything to go by. The employees didn’t seem likely though. Viktor had been talking to them, every single one of them, and even though they would change something here or there at their office, they seemed genuinely happy to be there.

They even vouched for the way the two owners dealt with projects – fair was a word that he encountered a lot, to his surprise (creative people can be a handful after all) – and he even discovered that Bella was more than what she had made herself sound like.

_“You own a percentage of the company?” Viktor had asked, shocked, as the revelation was made by an accountant employee who needed approval to purchase some supplies._

_“Well, duh! What did you think I was? A secretary?”_

_“No, well, not quite…I mean, you brought them their mail!” he exclaimed, half frustrated and half embarrassed._

_“They needed someone to set up the two areas they weren’t experts in: accountability and administration. They could have figured it out on their own, both of them took classes on the matter, but they wanted to focus on the other areas. As they were setting up, Mr. Cialdini…”_

_“Yuuri’s former teacher?”_

_“Yes, him, he was an old friend of JJ family. He brought them along to a fundraiser and they seemed so bored. I was as well, and when I made a joke about bad champagne and boring company, we got to talking. A few meetings later, they made me an offer. 10% of the company for setting up the accounting department. By the time the company was ready to go, we had become close, JJ’s business was all his idea and I find a good place with good people. Plus, they gave me a very nice salary and 20% of the company. I just bring in the mail because I usually bump into the delivery boy on my rounds through my departments” she finished, slightly shrugging his shoulders._

_“Well, I could have use this info earlier you know?”_

_“What? Was I a suspect?” she smirked, one eyebrow raised._

_“Well, I wouldn’t be doing my job right if I didn’t consider it. But now, no motive!”_

_Bella laughed at that. “Yuuri is right. You, my love, are indeed an idiot!”_

“-tor. Viktor!”

“Yes?”

“They are here” Mila informed him.

“What?” He said, dropping the papers he had and looking at his phone’s clock. It was 12:02. “Where did time go?”

Mila sigh, a familiar yet slightly exasperated little thing. “Are you coming or not?”

“Yes! Yes…”

Viktor grabbed his phone and bag, closed the door and followed Mila to the conference room. As soon as this was over, he was gonna leave straight for PCYK. He really hoped to give Yuuri something reassuring.

He walked in, dropping his things in one of the empty chairs as he apologized for keeping them waiting before he even looked at the two men in front of him. They both were dressed to their nineties, one in a blue suit, the other in navy, both sporting leather briefcases that Viktor knew costed more than some cars, and a gold Rolex each. They seemed taken from a bad movie where lawyers were trying to free a murderer or something equally bad.

The problem came when he finally looked at their faces. One he didn’t recognize, but the other…the other was all to familiar to him. A bit too much.

“Hello Vitya”

“Alex. Didn’t know you switched lawfirms” The room had chilled a good 3 degrees just by Viktor’s tone of voice.

“Yeah, well, we haven’t exactly kept in touch” Alexander Humenberg responded. Viktor’s ex-fianceé.

“He doesn’t seem to need an introduction, but I do. I am Thomas Huff. You two know each other?”

Alex tried to speakc, but Viktor beat him to it. “A pleasure Mr. Huff. I am Viktor Nikiforov, I am the lead in this case. This hear is one of the detectives working on my team, Mila Babicheva. Alexander and I go way back, to our college days. We used to be engaged actually”

The dry smile on Viktor’s face spoke volumes. The memories, even if they didn’t hurt anymore, they were still bitter. He usually tried not to think about it, but like everything we wish to forget, they are as clear as day.

“Oh. I had heard something about that. Didn’t know it was you. Your reputation precedes you.” Mr. Huff commented.

“Please, take a seat. Would either of you like a coffee or tea?” Viktor offered, as he and Mila took their seats across the lawyers.

“No, thank you.” Alex responded for the two lawyers.

“Ok. Then, let’s get down to business. We are here to talk about a former employee for PCYK. His name is Tony…Anthony-James Turner. He was a game developer for the company. The file we compiled shows he worked there for a little over two years and he left making a bit of a scene. That’s the company’s version. Would you like to add anything?”

Viktor finished reading and observed the two men. Both lawyers exchanged a rather unreadable look before the older nodded and Alex answered.

“He came to the office about a month ago. He had a meeting with me and a colleague. He explained that he had been wrongfully sacked and that he hoped to sue since he believed they had let him go to keep his project to himself.” Alex took a deep breath before locking eyes with Viktor and continuing his story. “It seemed like a rather straight forward case. We told him our fees and that, if he agreed, we would start building a case. He did accept our terms and, after he left we started working.”

“Did he seem odd to you?” Mila asked as she took notes.

“No. He actually played the part of a very coherent person. We thought it would be an easy case. There are many you fire people to keep their work…”

“But this wasn’t the case?” Viktor was oddly tense as he spoke, leaning back in his seat and looking as serious as a marble statue.

“No. First we contacted the legal department at PCYK. We had already started the process with the info we had and so we proceeded to serve them the papers. They didn’t seem to care. I thought they were being cocky at first. But no. They gave us a statement about the incident and a drive with the security footage.” Alexander sighed deeply, and Thomas took over.

“The video was such, that they showed it to me. We don’t like being put together with the unethical lawyers that defend and lie.”  The statement was met with an elegant raised eyebrow from Viktor and a barely supressed snort from Mila. “Yeah, I know. But it’s how we roll, as the young people say. If there is no case, we won’t waste people’s time. Or money. So, on the next meeting with Mr. Turner, we explained him that the information and evidence show he didn’t have a case. That he had, indeed, been rightfully sacked. And history repeated itself. I got a cut on my arm and a few windows were broken. Security removed him, and he was banned from the building”

“I’ve seen the footage. It was quite something. Do you have yours?”

“Yes, we brought a copy and all the info we have on him” Alex told him.

“That’s great” Mila explained a little too cheerfully. Alex handed the evidence over and she got up. “I’m gonna get started on this. See if there’s anything new”

“Yes. Do so please”.

After Mila left, the silence in the room was deafening. So much so, that the composed Mr. Huff cleared his throat to break it.

“So, would you like to know anything else?”

“Yes. I would like to know your opinion on the PCYK owners”

“Well, we only met them once, because the came with their lawyers when they gave us the info. They were very forthcoming and clear. And even answered all our questions. And some made them uncomfortable.” Mr. Huff replied.

“And your opinion was?” Viktor pressed gently.

“They are the type of people I wouldn’t mind representing. I analyse their history. Even before PCYK, people love them. And if they don’t, that’s mainly jealousy or truly unjustified. And that’s saying something. The people that spoke the worst about them were those who saw their profits crumble when their left.” Tony explained.

“Thank you. So far, people have spoken wonders about them and that was also my impression, but an unbiased point of view is always welcomed” Viktor closed the notes he had and stood. The other two followed suit. They walked to the door and Viktor shook Mr. Huffs hand first.

“It’s been a pleasure Mr. Nikiforov.” The man turned and addressed Alexander. “I will wait for you in the car.”

And with a last nod to Viktor, the man left. The Russian stayed looking after the lawyer, trying to make a proper opinion of him. It was not your average lawyer, that was for sure.

“So, Viktor. I know we haven’t talked in a while, but…It’s been a few years and I have kind of missed you. I know we didn’t finish in the best of terms…”

Viktor had been watching his ex-boyfriend stumble with his words patiently, curious to see where he was going, but he could help but snort at the last statement.

“Not the best of terms?” The other at least had the decency to look away, obviously embarrassed. Viktor was surprised at his own levelled voice. “You decide to dump me when I woke up after getting shot. I only left the hospital three days later and everything you own was gone from our place. And, to top it off, you wouldn’t answer my calls. After a month of being ignore, one gets the message.”

The red tinting Alex’s face was quite something else. The man seemed uncomfortable.

“I didn’t like it. And I didn’t understand. And the prospect of you getting hurt was too much…”

“Yeah, so leaving while I couldn’t even talk to you was the right way to go?” Viktor believed he was about to explode. He had, after all, not been able to confront it back then and that, as it turns out, was still nagging him. He didn’t wanna be that guy though, so he closed his eyes as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and let a long sigh out. “Look, I will not go putting blame on anyone. I made a career choice you didn’t agree on. We were supposed to start a life together and I changed the game on you. For that, I am sorry. But I had to. I do not regret. I do wish you would have left as soon as I change careers and not during my convalescence. I am not free of guilt, but you aren’t either. You kept quiet for a year until that case, pretending everything was ok when it wasn’t. And simply let this bombshell down on me.”

They had been talking lowly and far away from the rest of the desks on the floor, but people were looking. They were not strangers to Viktor’s personal history since his break up had happened in the hospital with several of those people waiting outside his room.

“But is it really that hard to believe I regret it?”

“From this point of view, it is difficult to separate that possibility with the possibility of you wanting me for a fuck buddy, or because I have good press, or for whichever other reason. I don’t think I even want you in my life as a friend.”

Alex was about to retort when…

“Viktor!”

Both men looked up to see Yuuri walk in. He approached them with a rather embarrassed look on his face. Viktor’s attention was then seized completely, and Alex was shocked at the look was giving the new arrival: no tension, no crinkled eyes, no lines on his forehead. No, just a small, happy smile. That was almost worst that all the things Viktor had just said to him.

“Hey, I thought we were meeting at the office?”

“I needed out and Vicchan needed a walk. And since we never really specified a place….” he trailed off, suddenly aware of the fact that Alex was still there. “Oh, sorry, you are still with the lawyers. I remember you, but your name escapes me.”

“Don’t worry Mr. Katsuki, we are done. We were just catching up.”

“Alex. You better go.”

“Yeah. I know. Good luck”

“You know, I do want you to be happy. So, good luck”

Alex gave Viktor on last look, one of those you give the things you must leave behind for good, like a childhood home or a school, and left without any further ado.

“Why do I get the feeling I interrupted more than just a meeting?” Yuuri asked, eyes still glued on the door where Alexander had just gone through.

Viktor chuckled. “I’ll tell you at lunch. After all, its public knowledge”

Once they made it to the restaurant and put in their orders, making sure to have something for Vicchan, silence fell between them for the first time since they met. And Yuuri didn’t like it one bit.

“You know, you don’t have to tell me. I mean, just because everyone knows…”

Viktor reached across the table a press a finger to Yuuri’s lips, silencing instantly. This made the Japanese man blush and the Russian laugh lightly.

“It really is okay, it’s been years. I just didn’t expect to see him today.”

“Your ex?” Yuuri ventured.

“My ex fiancé.” Viktor clarified. Yuuri’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “Yeah. After college I proposed. He said yes. A month later, I was at the bank and it got robbed. No one was hurt because of the way one police officer, who was off duty, made a bridge between the robbers (who turned out to be a couple desperate to pay their medical bills) and the cops outside. Hadn’t it been for him, they would have barged in (as is protocol, mind you) and it would have ended with, at least, the couple dead”

Yuuri was giving him his full attention. It was nice and so, Viktor kept going. “After that, the job I had gotten when I graduated started to seem meaningless. I defended people that had absolutely committed far worse crimes that the couple and got free. It only took another month for me to quit. Mind you, I did so after successfully wrapping up the case I had been assigned.”

This made Yuuri snicker. That sounded like Viktor (and he had only known the man for a little over a week).

“I explained my reasons to him and he said that, if I truly needed to do this, he had my back. But as time went on, he started to change his mind. The bruises for training put him off, my lack of energy for after-office affairs annoyed him and, after I graduated, my ever-changing schedule gave him a headache. But he persevered with a smile on his face. Until my first big case.”

“The kidnapping.”

“Yes. I had been a cop for like, a year, and just taken the detective test. I passed it with flying colours…”

“Go figure” Yuuri teased and Viktor couldn’t help the dopy smile that appeared on his face.

“…and got shot on the shoulder when I rescued the hostage. Nothing too serious, but it put me in the hospital for a couple of days. As I woke up, there he was. That made me happy. Until he opened his mouth.”

“He dumped you while you were in the hospital?” The indignation on his behalf was priceless and Viktor couldn’t help but preen at it. It was nice to know someone could care enough even if they were practically strangers.

“By the time I got out a few days later, he was gone, his stuff was gone, and his cell was disconnected. Our mutual friends avoided me like the plague. The only few friends I kept were Bella and JJ and a couple more.”

“Did he ask them to or…?”

“No, he didn’t stoop so low. But they had been looking at me funny since I switched careers. It was only a matter of time. And I made new ones in the force. Had to prove myself though, a lawyer with a fancy suit turned cop. I was quite the tv series cliché. But after that first bullet, I had everyone’s respect at the very least.”

“Well, at least things turned out well in the end. But I’m still shocked.” The area between his brows was knitted together in a frown had Viktor squealing internally. The food arrived, and they eat in silence for a bit before Yuuri broke the silence once again. “I do understand the pain of being left hanging out of nowhere. I mean, I knew he didn’t like my hours, but ha had said he would be supportive and then…”

“You were not good enough. Yeah”

The silence returned. But it was comfortable, companionable and easy. No need for rotten and repetitive chit chat. And both of them found themselves enjoying it plenty.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Thank you for listening.”

They exchanged smiles as they waited for the coffee and desert they had ordered. Once it arrived, Viktor broke the ice again.

“How are you feeling?”

Yuuri blushed. “Is it that obvious?” Viktor observed him as the younger man avoided his eyes with all his might.

“Maybe it is because we’ve been together so much lately. Have to talked to anybody about it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

The silences stretched between them for a long moment before Yuuri sighed and answered, this time, while looking him straight in the eye.

“Because I am afraid that, if I talk about it, if I put this uneasiness, this fear, into words and let them out, I will lose control of myself and won’t be able to stop those worries from taking over”

He looked so vulnerable that Viktor wanted to hold him tight and tell him there was nothing to worry about. But there was and lying would do Yuuri no good.

“Look, being vulnerable in this situation is more than okay. Some one is threatening you and everything you’ve build. Bottling it in won’t do you any good. You are afraid of doing it alone, find someone to listen to you, someone you trust, and asked them to help you.”

“That will make me look weak.”

“No. It’ll make you look human. I would offer you to be that for you, but you need someone who knows you better than me. Trust me, it’ll be good for you.”

“Thank you. I don’t really like speaking about my feelings”

“You and me both, but we probably should start working on it”

A small smile appeared on Yuuri’s face. “Yeah, we should”

As they finished their orders, thing got lighter. By the time they started they walk back to PCYK, both felt better and closer to each other. As they walked back, someone unbeknownst to them took pictures and plotted their next move.


	5. Chapter 5

As they left work that day (sans Viktor who had been called back to the precinct to consult on another case), Yuuri invited Phichit to spend the night at his place. It wasn’t uncommon for them, specially since they had been roommates in college, but it had been a while since the last time.

The proposition was met with unrestrained enthusiasm.

“YES! A slumber-party!”

“What are we? 10?” Yuuri retorted, amused.

“Shhh, don’t be a party-pooper. We must stock up in provisions”

“What are you planning in that little dangerous mind of yours?”

“You’ll see! Bye Bells!”

But before she could even say bye, the two friends were gone, dragged by Phichit’s sheer over-excitement and Yuuri’s shock. After all, this sort of response was to be expected. And it was more than welcomed.

The supplies they needed were nothing fancy but some of the most important thing a slumber party should have: sodas, snacks, sweets, ice cream and so on.  If Yuuri hadn’t known his best friend, he would have bet he was trying to fatten him up. But, as they did this so rarely nowadays, he would indulge.

They didn’t even bother to go to Phichit’s place for a change of clothes. He insisted on borrowing some of Yuuri’s.

“What’s the worst that could happen? Someone thinking we slept together? Wouldn’t be the first time”

He wasn’t wrong. The amount of people that thought they were an item was astounding. Not to mention the amounts of times they pretended they were to avoid either unwanted attention or to get something that was couple’s only.

Although this time, there was someone Yuuri would rather not have making that assumption. Anyhow, if the time spent together this last week or so meant anything, he wouldn’t fall for it. Or at least that’s what Yuuri thought.

“Hey! Yuuri? Earth calling Yuuri?”

“Oh, sorry, I got distracted”

“No shit. What were you thinking about?”

They were already at his apartment. They had gotten a very unnerving stare from the doorman as they carried all their bags upstairs. Now, as they finally settled everything in the coffee table, Yuuri had had a moment to let his thoughts wander. And, as always, it hadn’t gone over Phichit’s head.

“Do you remember how everyone seemed to think we were an item back when we were roommates in college?”

Phichit snorted, the juice he had been drinking coming out of his nose. As he cleaned himself up, he answered.

“Duh! Of course! It was hilarious to watch people trying to figure out whether we were together or not”

Yuuri laughed at that. “Yeah, those were fun. And at times it was incredibly useful. Remember the party at the end of second year, when that hockey player wouldn’t take no for an answer?”

“Yep. I came up to you, put my arm around your waist and told him you were only allowed to dump me for an ice skater. Hockey players weren’t good enough”

“And then we walked off. His face was priceless”

“Why were you thinking about that? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good walk down memory lane, but it seems to have come a little bit out of nowhere” Phichit wondered aloud, head curiously tilted to the side.

Yuuri went red and then sighed. “The first day we met Viktor, you had the right idea…”

“Called it!”

“and since we’ve been spending so much time together, I think I may actually like him”

Phichit, smile soft and eyes bright, put down his drink and side-hugged his best friend.

“And you are worried he might get the wrong idea?”

“Not really, because I think he got the idea that I like him, but it’s the first time I would really hate it if someone misunderstood us, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. And I think he likes you back.”

Yuuri’s look of surprise had Phichit almost chocking on his drink again. “Don’t give me that look. He definitely got the hots for you, if he isn’t already planning your wedding.”

If Yuuri had been blushing before, now he looked as if he had sunbathed for a month straight without sunblock.

_Well, at least I am not reading the situation wrong_ Yuuri thought as a small, hopeful, smile spread across his face. It didn’t last long though.

“But the situation doesn’t seem to be getting any better. It’s been over a month and no one seems to know where this creep is coming from. Viktor is now convinced it’s no one I come across on my way to and from work. And I’d hate to think it’s someone working for us!”

“What happened to ‘this is nothing, just a prank’?”

“I was worried from day one. I just thought that, if I said outloud, it would be real. But the letters are there, even if they’ve stopped temporarily. What if they never stop? What if they decide to go for you or Bella? Or Viktor? Or attack our offices altogether? Or hurt Vicchan?”

This was what Yuuri was worried about, falling into a spiral of anxiety and fear that he could nothing about but that would still make him so worried he would have a panic attack because he had no control over anything that was going on. His breathing had already started to become erratic when, suddenly, Phichit put Vicchan in his arms and the little dog, who had been sleeping in his doggie bed until then, started licking his face.

This cause him to laugh a little but got his breathing to normalize.

“Why did you grab Vicchan?”

Confusion was written all over Yuuri’s face.

“Because when Viktor Did it the other day at the office, it worked better than anything else, so I thought I’d try it”.

“Ahhh” was Yuuri’s smart response. He hadn’t noticed at the time, but Viktor had been the one to stop his panic from becoming incontrollable that day, hadn’t he?

“Yep. Ahh indeed. I think you have a good one there.”

“He is the officer in charge of my investigation. Even if he is looking at me that way, I don’t think he would make a move until it’s all over…” _And I don’t think it will ever be at this rate_ was left unsaid.

“It will be over, he will ask you out, and you two will get ten poodles and a baby”

As if he were competing for a world record, Yuuri when even redder than before and, once he put down Vicchan, he grabbed a pillow and attacked Phichit.

Everything will be fine. He just needed to repeat it over and over again until he started to believe it.

Next day had a lot of normal to it. Partly, it was due to the amount of work they had on their plate, but also due to a very obvious lack of Viktor. He had texted the duo to say they had a lead on Tony’s whereabouts and he was going to follow it with his team.

Therefore, the two friends spent most of their day working on a project of their own. They had been postponing developing an idea for a new game of their own for a few months now, but the late-night snacks and ice cream had gotten them brainstorming and, now, they were putting the ideas on paper. They were keeping it very hush hush because they hadn’t developed an idea of their own in a while and the concept had them giddy.

By the end of the day, Yuuri felt a whole lot more normal than he had been feeling for a while. He even missed Viktor around and had half a mind to give the man a call, even if it was just to check up on him. Maybe he would. He had Vicchan with him and maybe he could lure the busy cop away for dinner or something. Was he hoping for too much? Only one way to find out.

“Hah…”

“What’s up Viktor?”

“You kidding, right Mila?”

“I know the investigation isn’t going as expected…”

“Not going as expected? We are looking not going as expected in the rear-view mirror. We haven’t had such a stalled case in years, if not more. No even as a rookie I had so much trouble moving a case forward! And one I actually need to….”

“Need too?”

Mila’s tilted head made her look like a cat, with her blue eyes wide.

“Wait, you don’t mean…you like him?!”

The silence was more telling than any answer.

“Oh. My. God!”

“Shhh, or the whole department is going to hear you!”

“I’m sorry, but seriously…when was the last time you actually like someone?”

Viktor open his mouth only to shut it again. Since Alex, he had stick to fleeting relationships. They never lasted more than a few weeks, per previous agreement with his partner at the time. Since Alex, the risk had seemed too great. Until now.

“Don’t spread it. The last thing I need is Yakov removing me from the case”

“Hey, don’t worry. And, besides, it’s not like you made a move or something, right?”

“Nope. But I want this solved so I can!” The last bit came out as a whine and Mila just burst out laughing.

“Never thought I’d see you like this”

“Well, I’m glad you are enjoying yourself. Just…take this and double check all we’ve got. I mean, we have to be overlooking something. Have we check his apartment building?”

“No. We were working on his employees. I can get Georgi on it tomorrow”

“Do so please. And about the employees, did anything come up?”

“Not yet. We check those two you were worried about. Lettie has no previous of any sort. Just a speeding ticket that was waved because It had happened during an emergency”

Viktor’s raised eyebrows were all Mila needed to give him the details.

“Nothing too serious. They were in a tabern a couple years ago and her friend had her drink spiked without her consent. It hit her wrong and she hurried her to the ER. If she hadn’t, the girl could have had serious consequences, if not die. The doctor’s in the ER vouched for her and the speeding ticket was removed”

“Quite the story. And her partner?”

“He is a different story. Not quite a gangster or anything like that, but he ha a couple of arrests for fights in clubs. Usually started because of sports apparently. But he has a short temper, so maybe?”

“No. This is thoughtful and planned. Maybe not to elegant but it is careful and well carried out.”

“Well, we are not done. It’s barely been over a week. We’ll get them.”

“Yeah. It’s just, this current lack of activity, it feels like the calm before the storm”

Mila sighed heavily. “Yeah, I can’t shake that feeling either. Let’s hope to catch them before they do anything else.”

The next five minutes were spent in silence, sorting out their information into neat piles of folders. They were coming out empty-handed, but they were combing through every piece of information that had come their way.

As Viktor was finishing organizing a folder with the administrative department’s info, his phone rang and Yuuri’s name came up on the screen. Mila snickered behind her hand while Viktor picked up.

“Hello Yuuri”

“Viktor. Hi. Am I interrupting?”

“No. Not at all. I am just preparing a file for my boss about your case and Mila is helping me sort through the tones of paper that we’ve collected”

“I can call later if you want…”

“Noo!” The silence on the line and the snicker that Mila let out told him he had been a bit too over-enthusiastic in his negative. “No. I am almost done. Why were you calling?” _Please not work, please not work._

“Well, on the one hand, you said you had some intel on Tony. And on the other, I was wondering if you would like to, maybe, if you are free…. I mean, you don’t have to, but eating alone isn’t that nice and...”

Viktor caught his reflection on the black screen of his laptop, which was sitting innocently on his desk, and there was no denying the colour that had taken over his cheeks. Man was he screwed.

“On the first matter, we hit a dead end. The reason he dropped from the face of the earth is because he signed himself in a psychiatric hospital. He is in a two-month treatment for his burst of anger (which apparently were there longer than the burst he had on you and Phichit) and so he’s been under observation ever since. No one knew because no one was close enough to him. On the second matter, how does Italian sound? I know a little restaurant a few blocks from your place?”

Viktor was going for nonchalant as he tried to avoid Mila’s shit-eating grin. He was really hoping he had understood the rambled question correctly.

“Yes. I like it. Text me the address. I’m entering my building now. So how does half an hour sound?”

Before Viktor could answer, he heard the ding of the elevator doors.

“It sound perfect.”

He was grinning like a besotted fool. He knew it. And still, he couldn’t help himself.

“Ok. Then I’ll see you….”

Before Viktor could ask if anything was wrong, Yuuri’s screams pierced through the phone like a bullet. They were so loud, that Mila jumped up in response. 

“Yuuri whats going on?”

The sounds that he coudl hear from the phone's speakers werent reassuring. He could hear sobbing, barking and Yuuri's ragged breathing.

“Help…help me. Come…. My place…it’s been…come here”

“Ok, I’ll get the team…”

“Viktor, get the fuck here RIGHT NOW!”

And then the line went dead. And Viktor was on his feet in a second.

“Mila, get Georgi and send back up to his address”

As Mila left, Viktor grabbed his gun, his phone and rushed out the door. He was almost at the front door when both Georgi and Mila caught up to him. They drove like madmen, with Georgi behind the wheel. Viktor only hoped that they weren’t too late.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I am amazed by the comments. I don't usually get too many, so they have been a very pleasent surprise.
> 
> I just wanted to say a couple of things:
> 
> 1- I would never hurt Vicchan! How dare you? :-P  
> 2-I will not tell you who the perpetrator is, though I am happy there are so many theories.  
> 3-I am not a fan of cliffhangers myself, but sometimes they are good for the story.
> 
> And last but not least, happy birthday Yuuri! I am posting this the moment calendar changes day here were I live!
> 
> So, all in all, thanks for the support! Comments and kudos are always welcome! Have a nice day everyone! :-D
> 
> P.S: i got cheated by my alarm clock being off and it ended up posted on the 28th. Still, happy birthday to our sweet boy!

His heart was thumping noisily in his ears. As Mila drove, he kept calling and calling but Yuuri didn’t pick up. There was no traffic at all, and still, it felt as if they were moving at a snail’s pace. The sun had already gone down by the time they left the precinct and the night air felt too cold on his skin.

For once since he had become a detective, Viktor feared the outcome. Not for lack of effort, he knew this wasn’t his fault. But it still stung that he could do so little for someone he had come to care more than anyone else in the last few years.

Now, anyway, he needed to keep his head in the game. The only way he was going to of any use to Yuuri was if he kept his cool, if he concentrated on the task at hand and if he stopped looking at Yuuri as someone he cared about and did his job impartially. _Yeah, right, easier said than done_.

Still, regardless of all the things he was trying to convince himself of, his treacherous brain kept circling back to the unsettling image of Yuuri hurt, in several different ways, blood all around and his apartment destroyed. That was why he kept silently repeating himself a small mantra _: please be ok, please be ok, please be ok._

They parked the car in the entrance of the building. He expected the doorman to stop him or something, but the man was not the same as always _(what were you expecting, Nikiforov? They probably have shifts!_ ) and, even though he looked confused, didn’t seem to notice anything too unusual about the three officers. Probably because, as detectives, they all wore suits and such.

“Which floor?”

“Seventh, apartment B”

Luckily, the elevator was already on ground floor, so waiting wasn’t necessary. Still, to Viktor, it felt longer than the drive had been. Mila and Georgi had both taken their weapons out while he was lost in his own head. Chastising himself for not being 100% into the situation, he drew his own gun and prepared it and himself for the worst. His heart was still hammering inside his ribcage with the ferocity of a caged lion, ready to escape any second now.

“Let’s recapitulate. He called you, he was on his way up at the moment. You were talking to him when he opened the door. Then what?” Georgi’s voice was low and help ground him in the moment.

“He unlocks the door and then screamed. It was terrible. I asked him what happened and, in between terrible sobs, he tells me to get here as soon as possible”

“And then the line goes dead?”

“Yes. I heard the dog bark a few times, but that’s it.”

“Ok. Viktor, stay behind”

“Georgi…”

The ice blue eyes were piercing Georgi with their intensity, but the other man held his ground.

“No. We go in first. You are attached. We probably shouldn’t even have you here. But we know you, so at least listen to me”

Before he could retort, the elevator pang as it arrived at its destination. The door opened slowly, and Mila and Georgi took the front as Viktor did his damn best to follow orders for once _. It’s for the best. You wanna stay on the case. Behave._

The corridor had only a few doors. The nearest ones were A and C. Which put B at the far end. The lighting in it was good, but nothing out of the ordinary could be seen in the cream-walled stretch before them. And the burgundy rug didn’t help them discern if blood had been shed or not. A table here and there, with vases, were the only decorations and they indicated that, if there had been a struggle, it hadn’t happened out here.

The radio Mila was carrying made a sound and informed the three of them that the backup was 10 minutes away still.

“Fuck. They should have been here before us” Mila cursed under her breath.

They finally made it to the door, which was wide open. Viktor looked at Georgi and signalled he was gonna call out to Yuui. When the other man gave him a nod, he took a deep breath and…

“Yuuri! Are you in there?”

There was silence for a moment and Viktor started visualizing all the scenarios that his mind had concocted in the ten-minute drive from the precinct. Georgi raised one eyebrow in his direction as he signalled the door with his head. Viktor tried again.

“Yuuri! It’s Viktor! Are you there?”

Silence remained for a whole minute until a sob was heard. At that, Mila moved in.

“This is the police, we are coming in!”

They walked into the apartment in formation. The first thing they saw was a hallway that opened into the living-room/dining-room area, which was in complete darkness. There were three doors: one to the right and two more on that same wall, but further into the apartment. Georgi poked his head in the first one and the high-pitched barks of a small dog assaulted their ears and the tiny poodle assaulted his ankles. At this, Viktor put his gun away and kneeled to catch the tiny poodle’s attention. Vicchan stopped as he recognised Viktor and run inside the Kitchen again.

The space was rather big, with a long counter, fridge and cooker on the left wall, an island in the middle and a dividing breakfast bar on the right, which divided the Kitchen from the living room. They saw the small creature ran towards the island and disappear behind it. Under the heavy stares of his partners, Viktor approached slowly. Behind it, was the person he was looking for and who was, apparently un-harmed. Although that didn’t mean he was ok.

The man in question was a blubbering mess. He was sitting on the ground, knees brought up to his chest and arms tightly wound around them. His face was pressed down on his knees and, in his right hand, he was holding a knife. Yuuri was so out of himself, that he hadn’t even noticed the new arrivals.

Viktor indicated to Mila and Georgi to check the place while he dealt with Yuuri. Once they nodded, Viktor approached slowly then. He lowered himself enough to be at his same height. He didn’t dare touch him without alerting him of his presence first.

“Yuuri? Can you hear me?”

At first, nothing happened.

“Yuuri? Please, can you hear me?”

He was starting to believe he would have to startle the man when the other looked up enough to see who was there. He had barely raised his head. But it was just as much as was needed to see Viktor. Next thing, the knife crashed loudly on the tile floor and Yuuri started ugly crying.

“Vik-tor…”

“Can I touch you?” Yuuri didn’t need asking twice. He nodded vigorously and the following moment he was wrapped protectively in Viktor’s arms.

“What happened?”

“So-so-someone…. the livin-ving room…bra-brake in”

So, whatever it was, it had happened in the living room. He looked up just in time to see Mila moving back into the kitchen. She looked as if she had seen a ghost, all colour gone from her face.

“The apartment is clear. Whoever did this, didn’t stay. But you should probably see for yourself.”

He looked at the terrified men in his arms and sighed. Although he didn’t have time to even ask.

“G-go…I can… I’m bet-better now…” He said, disentangling himself from the Russian man. Viktor looked doubtful but let him go. The second Yuuri was free, Vicchan jumped into his arms. Yuuri looked terrible, but with the little pup in his arms he seemed to ground himself a little. He gave Viktor a weak smile and the other man got up.

“Stay with him” he told Mila on his way to the living-room, which was now properly lit, and he wasn’t ready for it. He sucked in a breath abruptly and just stood there. What he saw was anyone’s worst nightmare. You hear of break-ins and the mess and destruction people leave behind. But this, this wasn’t just a breaking.

The walls, which where originally a soft shade of gray, were covered in what looked like blood. That same “blood” covered the rug, the furniture, everything. The space had a sofa to one side, a coffee table in front of it, a large bookcase towards the end of the room and a big window.

On the coffee table, there was an enormous pig head, straight from a slaughter house, dripping blood on the surface below it and with its eyes gouged out. Behind the sofa, there was an inscription.

“No one can protect you from me” Viktor read aloud as he took the scene in one more time. The bookcase was on it’s side, all the books and DVD’s there on the floor and ripped and covered in the red substance Viktor was more and more sure was blood of some kind (hopefully not human).

“Now I understand his reaction much better. I’m surprised the dog didn’t suffer a similar fate to the pig whose head is here now” Georgi wondered in a whiper.

“He probably took Vicchan to work with him”

Before anything else could be said, the back up called out to them from the door. Getting a better grip of himself, Viktor got into full sergeant mode. He had an officer make Yuuri a cup of tea while he had Mila question him. He had washed his face in the kitchen sink and refused to move anywhere near the living-room.

Viktor called for the forensics’ unit and ordered them to canvas the place to the teeth. This guy had escalated abruptly and he was hoping that he had made a mistake along the way. As everyone was getting down to work, Yakov showed up at the scene.

“I thought this was going to be an easy one” he commented, eyes set on the words on the wall.

“Yeah, well, you know what they say…”

“What?”  
“I don’t know. I was just trying to lighten the mood”

“What are you going to do with him?”

“Get him into a safe house”

Viktor had his eyes trained on the man in question, who was now sitting on a stool, dog on his lap and back pointedly set toward the crime scene. He must have looked for a moment too long, because the next thing he heard was Yakov’s long, suffering sigh.

“What?”

“Whatever you do, do not compromise the case for a boy”

“I wouldn’t!”

“Just, be careful.”

“Always.” After another moment of looking, he finally spoke again. “But I am not putting him in a safe house”

“How’s that being sensible and careful?”

“Trust me. It is. This person has insight. He pretended to not know where he lived by targeting his office building but this…this proves he knew and was saving it for later”

“Where are you taking him then?”

“My place”

“Viktor”

“Yakov” He looked into the old mans face and held his gaze for a good minute before the other man gave up.

“Thread carefully, I don’t want this one to evade us on technicalities”

“Oh, trust me, this one will NOT get away!”

Yakov was looking at him in a way he hadn’t seen since he first started under the man. To say the man was worried about Viktor’s mind state was probably the understatement of the century. But Viktor didn’t have time to deal with it. Not now. He had more pressing matters to attend to. Like getting Yuuri to safety.

He knew protocol dictated that he was to be moved to a safe house. But Viktor felt that it was unsafe to do so. Or maybe he just didn’t want Yuuri out of his sight. Either way, his mind was made. He was taking Yuuri with him. What safer place than his loft, with all the security the building carried with itself (one of the privileges of his inheritance).

The drive to Viktor’s place was a quiet one. The had to stay at the scene (a.k.a. his place) well into the night, since Viktor was the officer in charge of the investigation. He had been allowed into his room after the police cleared it. So, there, he had spent a good amount of time preparing a bag with his a Vicchan’s things for the temporary move.

But time moves slowly when all you can do is wait, and few things set his anxiety up like a break-in that resulted in almost everything you owned being destroyed. Vicchan was a good distraction but not a complete one. So, he organized everything, made the bed and took a shower. By the time Viktor told him they were leaving, Yuuri was lying in bed, looking up at the cealing without really seeing it. The car ride was definitely an improvement, even if the silence was starting to get nerve wracking.

“Why are we taking so long to get there?” he finally asked.

“The ride isn’t really this long. I was just being cautious. We’ll be there in a couple more minutes”

“You think they could have been watching?”

“Someone who does something like that is nearby. But no one followed us. So you should be safe”

“And how about going to work tomorrow?”

“You are not going to work tomorrow” Viktor said, both eyeborows raised as he side-eyed Yuuri.

“But if I don’t, they get what they want”

“No. They don’t. We can tell Phichit to say you are on a meeting or something similar. It would give us a good idea on how your workers react”

“But”

“No buts, you can’t possibly be trying to tell me that you are feeling well enough?”

Yuuri wanted to complain or argue, but he was exhausted, both mentally and physically. His head was actually killing him and he couldn’t wait to go to bed. It was so late, that they were probably the only car on the streets and that was saying something in a city like theirs, that seemed to never sleep.

“Fine. I am tired, and you are probably right. But I am telling Phichit and Bella the truth”

“Ok, that’s fine. Just give us a day to get some information from the evidence left behind and take advantage of it to get back to full energy”

Before anything else could be said, they entered the parking lot of a fancy looking apartment building. Yuuri’s was nice all right, he had made sure to get something that, even if it was for himself mostly, he could use it to entertain. It was rather fancy, really. But this. This saw fancy in the rear-view mirror.

“You said we were coming to your place”

“This is my place”

“And when were you going to tell me you are loaded?” Yuuri deadpanned. Viktor had just parked the car and turned to look at him, only to find the most unamused face the other had shown him so far, including the one from the day they met.

“Well, I don’t think I am” Viktor defended himself as they got off the car. “I mean, yeah, my parents ARE loaded. This is just part of my trust fund”

They were waiting by the elevator when Yuuri spoke next. “And now you are going to tell me you own the top floor”

It was obviously a tease. Yuuri definitely didn’t expect Viktor to live on the top floor. But the blush spreading over his nose and all the way over to his ears betrayed Viktor.

“You do?” Well, at least these little revelations were making Yuuri forget the horrible evening he’d had so far.

“Technically, no. I mean, there’s a pool and a solarium with a gym on the top floor, so…”

That did it. That broke Yuuri out of his shock and got him laughing almost hysterically. It was one of the most honest things Viktor had ever heard and he loved it. If he had any saying on it, Yuuri would never stop laughing.

“Good, that suits you far better than the moodiness that had taken over you today.” They were both smiling softly when the elevator’s door opened to Viktor´s floor. Yeah, he had the whole floor. The place was elegant and spacious. A similar layout to Yuuri’s but with a far better view of the city and far more expensive furniture. Although he was glad to see the other man liked books as much as he did. He was appraising his surroundings while Viktor took his bags to what looked like the only bedroom in the place.  He was looking at the spacious kitchen which looked barely used when Viktor came back.

“Too bad we didn’t get to have dinner”

“We can have a rain-check. I don’t mind waiting, not for you.”

The words were out of Viktor’s mouth before he could think about them twice. He meant it. He truly meant it, but was afraid he had been too much, too forward or simply too “wrong time, wrong place”. He had half a mind to apologize or try to paraphrase it, but he didn’t and now it was too late.

“Yeah, so are you”.

Good. This was good, they were on the same page. They were standing next to each other. The closeness felt good, comforting to Yuuri’s tired mind. As they looked each other in the eyes, they forgot that they were not the only living beings in the place. This was abruptly reminded to the two of them when two different barks startled them.

One was tiny and high-pitched, and it came from Yuuri’s dog carrier. The other one came from somewhere near their feet and it was a proper bark, with a much graver tone. When Yuuri finally located the owner of the second bark, he saw a regular-size poodle sitting by them, tongue lolling out in the cutest way possible.

“Makkachin. Hello girl!” Viktor cooed as he kneeled in front of his dog. “Sorry I’m late, you are probably starving. Let me get you your very late dinner.” He got up after a last scratch behind her ears and turned to his guests. “Wanna let him out? So, they get to know each other as I feed them both.”

Yuuri had forgotten Viktor told him about his dog. But know, it made sense. The way he was around Vicchan spoke of a long-time love for animals in general and dogs in particular.

“Yes, that sounds good.”

The next half hour was spent pampering their furry friends and making themselves some sandwiches since, with all the mayhem the last few hours had brought, neither had eaten a thing. They may have been stressed, but they were equally starving. They were finally sitting across each other, on Viktors kitchen island, when Yuuri finally spoke again.

“So, what happens now?”

“Now, you are even higher up our priority ranking than before, and that’s saying something. We analyse everything left in your apartment that could lead us to the perpetrator while we keep running down leads and you rest. Just for a day, it’ll be good for you. My bedroom is over there, and you can have it.”

Yuuri looked back at the door in question and then at Viktor. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Viktor answered with his head tilted like Vicchan did when he was confused. Yuuri couldn’t shake the feeling that the man was just like a puppy sometimes.

“Where are you going to sleep?”

“Here, on the couch.”

Yuuri looked at the couch. It was a nice couch, sleek and elegant in a very nice dark grey. But not at all appropriate for a good night of rest.

“Viktor, you can’t sleep here”

“Well, is that or the floor. Unless you have a better idea?”

Viktor was grinning like the cat that caught the mouse. And Yuuri, albeit blushing terribly, wasn’t going to let him get the best of him.

“We could share. I bet your bed, if this place is any iindicator, is big enough for a full football team. So, two people can probably fit just fine.”

Viktor sputtered at that, breath catching abruptly. It was nice to see that he could be thrown for a loop as well. Besides, pink looked good on those chiselled cheekbones of his. God, Yuuri wished this were happening in such different circumstances.

“Well, yeah, the bed is big. Are you sure?”

“All I know is that we are both tired and I’d rather not sleep alone.” He blushed after such an admittance, since he hated to be perceived as weak. But Viktor had always met him half way since they’ve been spending time together and today, he did so as well.

“Ok, it’s settled then. It’s really late, so we probably should call it a day”

They retired to the bedroom and each went through their independent nightly routines. Viktor went to take a shower as Yuuri pulled out his pajama. Makkachin had a doggie bed in the living-room but none here, so he assumed the dog must normally share the bed with his owner. Not that Yuuri would mind if the dog got onto the bed with them. Especially since Vicchan had done so a few minutes ago. Yuuri almost shushed him away, but Viktor cooed at the dog and told him to find the spot most comfortable for him.

When Viktor came out of the bathroom, pajama bottoms low on his hips, no shirt ( _Praise god, he looks like a damn model!_ ) and a towel around his neck, he was surprised to see Yuuri sitting on the edge, looking hesitant as he scratched Vicchan’s hea.

“Why haven’t you got into the bed?” This time, there was no teasing. Yuuri looked doubtful and Viktor was not going to be a jerk if he had changed his mind about the agreement.

“Mmh…oh, sorry. No, I was just waiting for you.”

“Me? Why?”

“To see which side you prefer. I don’t really have a preference so, I thought I’d wait. And then I got distracted…”

“If you truly don’t mind, then I’ll take the left side.”

Yuuri have him a short nod and shifted to get into the right side of the bed then. Viktor finished drying his hair and got into the other. Once in place, Viktor turned off the lights. They were lying there, both looking at the ceiling and not falling asleep.

“Viktor”

The voice was low, barely above a whisper, and cautious. Maybe he was scared that he would wake him up. They were both laying on their backs, each of them with their minds far more occupied than what they would have liked.

“Yes?”

“I’m scared”

There it was. The thing keeping his eyes open despite the late hour and exhaustion he felt. This was far worst that what he could have ever predicted, and he was honestly afraid that things would never go back to normal.

“I know…. well, I figured at least. But it’s normal. And it won’t last forever.”

“No? Because it’s starting to feel like it just might.”

Viktor wanted to reassure him, to tell him everything would be over tomorrow and no harm (or at least, any more harm) would come his way. But he also knew that stating so as a fact at this point would be a lie since, to Viktor’s utter embarrassment, he was nowhere close to finding the guy.

“It won’t. I wish I could tell you that this will all be over in the morning. It won’t. But it will be over. And it will become just a bitter memory. Just that. A memory.”

Yuuri sighed deeply beside him, as if he were trying to let all his worries out. Viktor, for once since the phone call, stopped worrying about being a god cop and concentrated on being a god person. So, he threw caution to the wind and took Yuuri’s hand in his, squeezing it tightly.

Yuuri was shocked and, at the same time, so fucking relieved. He held on to it as if it were a lifesaver. Physical displays of affection, even the smaller ones, had never been his strong suit. And yet, he had craved this more than what he dared to admit.

“Can I…?”

He didn’t finish the question. Viktor understood and drew him in. The fell asleep a few minutes later, tightly held in each other’s embrace. As the week had gone on, they both had pictured themselves in several different scenarios, one more intimate than the other. But sometimes, intimacy was more about needing someone and that someone being there for you. And so, with this little reassurance, they drifted into a rather peaceful sleep, leaving the world to be dealt with the next day.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay! With the holidays and my inhability to get this the way I wanted, it took way longer than planned. Hope you enjoy it and happy holidays everyone!

When morning came, Yuuri was drawn out of sleep by a lot of things. Firstly, Makkachin and Vicchan had decided to join their masters on the bed, so their presence and their warmth was an unexpected extra. Secondly, Viktor and Yuuri had both moved during the night, but instead of moving farther away, they had inched even closer to each other. So much so, that Yuuri was now laying on his back, almost in the middle of the bed, with Viktor snoring softly into his chest, octupused to Yuuri from head to toes. 

If Yuuri had to be perfectly honest, he didn't mind the situation one bit. After all, he had never been the type to like someone just for the thrills. Whenever he started to care for a possible love interest, he usually envisioned them in a variety of domestic situations. Romance was nice and all, but looking into the future, being able to picture yourself with that special other, that was what made his heart race. And this particular scenario was one of his favourites (the number of dogs usually varied, but that was about it).

The third thing that woke Yuuri up was his ringtone. The blasted thing was announcing, rather unceremoniously, that Phichit was trying to get a hold of him. He seriously needed to change it. He didn't even liked Demi Lovato that much. But well, to the point in question, he should better answer before the damn thing woke everyone up. So, from his compromised position on the bed, he stretched out as far as he could go and yanked the thing from its charging place on the night-stand before he picked up.

"What?"  _To hell with politeness, it is too early!_

"Wow, is that a way to talk to your best friend?"

"When he calls me this early in the morning, yes."

"What are you talking about? It's way past eleven"

_What? Eleven? No way._

"Huh?" With that, he turned to look at Viktor's alarm-clock on his night-stand and, after squinting enough to stop seeing blurry, he cursed lowly. But not lowly enough to prevent Phichit from hearing.

"So, to what do I owe the honour of dealing with an actually late, _he-literally-didn't-hear-the-alarm-and-over-slept_  Yuuri?"

Phichit was happy, so, so happy, and so elated on the off prospect of Yuuri having gotten lucky, that the man in question felt bad for having to fill his sunshine of a best friend in. This sucked!

"You have no idea. And I wish you were at least half right on that implication. No, sorry I didn't tell you last night. But it got so late by the time I was allowed to call that it slipped my mind..."

And that easily, the laughter that always filled Phichit's voice was gone.

"What happened?"

Yuuri took a deep breath and, after looking down at the man sleeping on his chest and making sure he was still sleeping, he recounted the worst night of his life to his best friend. The silence that follow his story was quite something else. He had retold the state of his apartment, the blood on his walls, the locked door, the state in which Viktor had found him, and the previous events. He had actually asked Viktor out to dinner, finally had the guts to ask the man out, and everything had gone to hell thirty seconds later. He couldn't help but think it was some sort of sign. Some cosmic power telling him "Hey, we thought you knew, but just to make sure, he is not for you! Have a decent life". And now Phichit seemed to have gone mute.

"Phich, you still there?"

There was silence for a moment longer until..."yeah, I'm here. Where are you by the way? And why didn’t you call me straight away? I could have helped! You could have stayed with me! Fuck, I don't know what I could have done but damn!"

"Phich, there was nothing you could have done. I needed the cops. And I couldn't have stayed with you anyway, whoever is doing this, knows you. So, it wouldn't have been an option"

There's a sigh. A long one. Phichit is most likely trying to reel himself in. He has always been very protective of Yuuri, since they first met in college.

"I know. So, I guess you are not coming in today? Can I at least known where you are? Can I tell Bella?"

"No, I'm not. If anyone asks, I went with Viktor to meet his business. To check it out in person. And yes, please fill Bella in. I am at Viktor's actually. He thought I would be more comfortable here that in a sterile unknown hotel room, especially since I have Vicchan with me" Yuuri had gone red just from admitting he was at Viktor's place. He would rather not find out what colour he would go if the fact that he is currently cuddling in bed with the man were to get out. The stars are not on his side, though, because at that very moment, Viktor's eyes open and so does his mouth with a sleepy  _morning'_  coming softly from him.

"So, I guess the end of the night wasn't so terrible."

_Teased! I am getting teased! Not fair Phich!_

"I would explain, but you would twist everything I said." This last bit earns him a very confused looked from Viktor, who has his eyebrows scrunched together and sleep is still clear in his eyes. "I will tell you everything next time I see you. Keep me posted, will you?"

"Will do. So do you, ok? I'm worried."

"Yeah, I will. Bye."

With the phone call over, he gets the chance to look at Viktor properly. Viktor who looks like he is finally awake enough to realize the position they are both in and is starting to be ashamed, if the pink dusting his face is any indication. He looks torn between wanting to stay and moving away. Sadly, me moves away, looking away at anything but Yuuri.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cling like that.”

“I didn’t really mind.” To his own surprise, Yuuri is being honest. He had enjoyed waking up the way he did. And would have enjoyed staying in bed cuddling a bit longer. But they weren’t lovers. They weren’t anything more than a maybe yet, and it was probably for the best that, at least for now, they kept some modicum of professionalism between them. Although that definitely went out the window the third time in a row that they had a dog-coffee-date under the guise of Viktor keeping an eye on him.

They needed to talk. To put things out there and figure out what on earth was going on (besides the murder threats) because Yuuri was falling quickly and hard and he needed to know if his suspicion that he wasn’t the only one held true to Viktor too.

But now the man was sitting up in bed, ready to get up, and Yuuri felt that the moment had passed. Or had it? Yuuri never knew how to react in this sort of situations. He really wished he was better at them. But, after everything that had transpired the night before, he felt like he should take a small risk.

“I mean it. I didn’t mind it. I was kind of nice”

He knew he was blushing, but it had to be said. Viktor had looked so embarrassed to have been found in such a relaxed and unguarded situation, that even Yuuri could tell he felt self-conscious. Viktor stopped as he was, sitting on the side of the bed, and looked at him over his shoulder.

“Yeah, it was.” Yuuri finally looked up at the man and saw he was smiling softly. “But we probably should get up. I’ll go make some coffee and try to call the office. You can come when you’re ready.”

Yuuri just nodded. It was small but it was out there at least, and the awkwardness seemed to be gone from their interaction. As Viktor left, Yuuri got up to get himself ready. For what? He wasn’t sure. He just felt the need to go about this day as normally as possible. So, he got up, freshened up and went to the kitchen were Viktor was finishing breakfast while talking on his phone, which was laid on the counter next to the man himself and set to speaker phone.

“The blood on the walls turned out to be animal. Not sure what specifically, they are finishing on the analysis, but it should narrow down where he could have purchased it…”

He cleared his throat, to make sure he wasn’t eavesdropping on something he shouldn’t. Viktor looked at him and signalled to come closer.

“Yuuri is listening too now. Given the circumstances, I don’t consider necessary keeping him out of the loop”

“Got it” answered Georgi through the line. “The weirdest thing is that the lock was intact.

Viktor handed Yuuri his coffee and looked at the phone confused.

“What do you mean? Wasn’t it picked?”

“No, whoever got in, did it with a key.”

“That’s not possible” His voice took everyone by surprise, himself included. “I mean, the only person with a copy is Phichit, in case of emergency, and…”

“And?”

“The landlord. The building’s management office has copy of everyone’s keys. We are encouraged to change the locks when we move in, just in case, but still we are also recommended to leave one with management, to avoid getting locked out…”

“That means that the building manager has a key?” Georgi asked through the connexion.

“It’s there. And everyone with access to that office has access to the key. I think it includes the manager and the doormen only, but I’m not sure.”

“Georgi….”

“On it, I’ll call you when I get something.”

“No, I’m going to the office. He is safe here, we didn’t tell anyone where we were moving him, right?”

“Yes. The doorman asked, but, as you requested. We told him he was being moved to a hotel near the police station.”

“Ok, I be there in 30.” And with that, Viktor cut the phone call.

The silence was only cut by the toaster which jumped in that moment.

“So, I suppose I am not to leave the apartment?”

“Sorry, I really wasn’t planning to leave you, but if I’m there…”

“Viktor, relax, I don’t mind a little alone time. And considering I have two dogs instead of one to keep me company, I will be ok. Just, get this over with. I would really like my life going back to normal. Or at least, as normal as it ever was.”

“I can help with that. Anything else?”

“Be safe, ok? I really can’t emphasise enough how important that is.”

“I can promise not to get into harm’s way on purpose. Is that good enough?”

“Yes, it is. Go, you’ve got work to do and I have a bookcase to examine”

Viktor left for the bedroom and Yuuri just sat there, sipping his coffee and hoping that his would finally end. And maybe he’ll have enough freedom to ask the hot detective out on a date.

“What do we have?”

Mila was typing frantically at her desk, bringing up information on the screen in the conference room for everyone to see. She looked as serious as Viktor had ever seen her.

“The people Yuuri mentioned are 4. The building’s manager is a 60-year-old man that has been on the job for 40. His name is William Hebert. He has a couple speeding tickets and an arrest when he was young for peeing on an ex-girlfriend’s fence. Nothing since.”

Viktor nodded. “Next?”

“The weekend doorman is Kevin Harvey, 40, married. Lives like most doorman do, in an apartment on the base floor with his family. He had some arrest at political rallies in his 20’s but nothing in the last 6 years since his daughter was born.”

“So, not likely.”

“Not at all. He could barely place Katsuki when we asked about him. Next is the night manager. A kid in his 20 who is finishing his higher education and the time makes the job good for him both financially and time-wise. No record.”

“I’m starting to believe we still have nothing.” Viktor was also getting the feeling that this was going to keep Yuuri living at his place indeterminably and beat himself mentally for the thought. They were nothing (yet) and Yuuri was only there out of fear. He wanted him there by choice. And permanently, if he had a say in the matter. But it was better if he kept his thoughts (and hopes) prioritized if he ever wanted a chance to ask. So, when Mila cleared her throat, Viktor harshly but dutifully focused on her info again.

“Not quite. There is one more. The daytime doorman is a two-man job. The schedule is hardly permanent, but the men are always the same two. The second one in this case is quite something.”

“Really? Let’s see then…”

_I wonder if the idiot is home._

Well, Yuri was out of classes for the day (thank god the last teacher had called in sick) and he had a weekend off of anything even remotely responsible -no work, no assignments, no nothing. So here he was, about to barge into Viktor’s place unannounced and planning on staying for at least a whole night.

He had just finished his exams and, even though he had done it with flying colours (Viktor owed him a dinner at that new cat-themed café that had opened a little while ago), he was tired and needed to be away from home. He loved his family, even if it was not the conventional type considering he had basically been adopted by his uncle and his wife who, for some reason, had come back to live under the same roof as him. But sometimes, he needed space. And that was what Viktor was good for: a good tv, good food and an amazing connectivity.

He had barely gotten through the door when he noticed something different. The mut hadn’t tackled him down to greet him.

_Maybe the old man is home_ , he thought as he dropped his coat on the hanger by the door and made his way inside as he yelled “Hello looser! You have to feed me!”

Instead of Viktor´s usual cheerily annoying retort though, what he got was a yelp followed by a thud that came from the living room. He crossed the threshold to se a man in glasses and pajamas getting up from the floor with a book in his hand and another poodle at his feet.

“Fuck, so he finally snapped and got himself another dog?”

“mmm, no…I mean-…mm..the little one is mine”

“And who the hell are you?”

“I’m…I mean…my name is Yuuri”

“Don’t joke, who are you? His boyfriend?”

“I mean, seriously, my name is Yuuri. Viktor said I could stay here”

The black-haired man seemed uncomfortable. It didn’t look like Viktor’s usual taste in man, but what the hell did Yuri know. Although the similar name irritated him”

“Well, I don’t care. I’m Yuri Plisetsky. That idiot is basically family and I normally come here to wind down. We can share the space, I guess”

The blue—rimmed glasses the other man was wearing had fallen down his nose but the man himself suddenly seemed amused. He lifted a hand to push them back up and smiled cheekily as he said: “Sure, how much space can a teenager take?” Was this guy for real? Yuri thought. “Besides, it’s not as if you’d care for what I have to say”

“Of course I wouldn’t!” he buffed! As if he would let this nobody tell him what to do! _Besides, he is probably not gonna last_. Yuri thought, even though he had to admit to himself that his mere presence in the building (and with Makkachin so comfortable around him) was a rather exceptional feat. Maybe he was here to break the older man’s streak of meaningless affairs.

The other Yuuri (this was gonna get confusing fast) was grabbing his book back and rearranging himself on the couch again, legs crossed under him and the small poodle settling there automatically. There was something soothing about his presence but Yuri wasn’t going to dwell on it too much. He dropped his bag in an empty sofa and went straight for the 50” tv set. In the first drawer was his gaming console. He expected to be ignored by the reading man, but as soon as the device was on and the controllers were out, he noticed he was being heavily observed.

“what?” he spat.

“Which version do you like best? I personally prefer the PS2 version. But that may be nostalgia talking. Although it had a great story and amazing playability.”

Yuri was dumbstruck. _This idiot likes videogames? Well, seem like Viktor’s taste is going up!_

“Not wrong there. The graphics for the PS3 may have been amazing but the game itself was shit. They did a rather amazing job when they launched the latest version though. But you are right about the first one.”

“Fair enough. I am looking forward for the next one. They promise quite a bit. We’ll se if they deliver. The idea of playing on several platforms is quite appealing.”

“If they fail, they are going to get shit for it!”

Yuuri laughes. Not a condescending sound, but of true amusement. Yuri may as well regret his next move, but he was curious.

“Wanna play? Books are cool, but people who actually know what they are doing is rare to find. And you seem adecuate?”

“Sure, let me show you how adecuate I am” Yuuri said, as he smirked devilishly and grabbed the other controller. This should be fun.

Viktor arrived at his apartment door wondering whether he should tell Yuuri all they knew so far or keep quiet until he had proof, because it looked like the plot was thickening quickly. At least, now there where getting somewhere.

He stood outside of his door for another minute before he decided to keep quiet until he had all the facts. He had the key in the lock when he heard a loud yell coming from inside and chill him to the bones. Gun already drawn, he through open the door to more angry yelling…half in Russian and half in English. Which could mean Yuuri spoke the language or, more likely, that his “cousin” Yuri was home.

The kid was noisy as hell. He Holstead his weapon and walked into the room to try to figure out what the hell had caused the commotion.

“…asshole! What the fucking hell! How..? How was that even possible, you…you…”

“Careful, that’s enough cursing for a lifetime” Viktor interrupted his cousin’s stuttering.

“Don’t worry Viktor, I get yell like that a lot when I play. I get competitive and, well, it annoys people since I seem so mild.” Yuuri explain, lips pursed in a tight line to keep from laughing.

Viktor was taking his coat off when he understood what was going on.

“Wait, you beat the kitten?”

“Don’t call me that” Yuri seethed. But Yuri just grinned harder.

“How? I’ve tried for years and he just keeps winning. And by a big margin”

“Viktor, do you remember what I do for a living?” Yuuri asked, amusement clear on his face.

“Yeah, of course, you are a game…” He blushed and looked at Yuuri sheepishly. “I am indeed an idiot”

“Mmmm, just very clueless.”

From the side, he heard a groan and a whispered “get a room” before Yuri made sure they remembered he was there by asking “what do you do for a living?”

“Oh, let me make the proper introduction. Yuri, this is Katsuki Yuuri, founder of PCYK and game developer. Yuri, this is my cousin, Yuri Plisetsky.”

At this, Yuuri lifted a hand a waved shyly while Yuri obviously had an aneurism or similar since he went mute and had shock written all over himself.

“Is he ok?”

“Mmm, not sure. I had heard your company’s name before. But I couldn’t figure out where and I think it was from him. You know, he is in his second year of college, working on a similar career to yours, I think…”

“Not similar, you moron. I want to do what he does. But you can’t possibly be him. For starters, how on earth would you know this idiot. Secondly, you wouldn’t have such bad taste as to date him!”

“Hey!”

“Mmmm, does the name Isabella Yang rings a bell for you?” Yuuri interrupted the defence that was bound to come from Viktor.

“Yeah, you know her?”

“She played matchmaker, you could say” Yuuri wasn’t going to tell a kid that someone wanted him dead. And he was having quite some fun with Viktor’s reactions. Right now, he had blushed all the way down his throat at Yuuri’s use of the word matchmaker.

“Ok, fine, I’ll give you that. But him? Seriously?”

“Yep” Yuuri didn’t know where his bravado was coming from, but he was enjoying it. “You know, if you want, I can have you visit the facilities one of these days. Not this week though, things are a little hectic at the moment. But maybe the next one?”

“YES!” Yuri must have noticed how loud and enthusiastic his response was because he went bright red and continued on much quieter “Yes, that would be cool, I guess.”

If Viktor was smitten before, now he was head over heels.

“I’m going to the toilette. Don’t do anything disgusting in the meantime!”

Once Yuri left, Viktor took a seat on the couch. The “Game Over” screen was still blaring at them but neither bother turning it off. It was as good a soundtrack to what he wanted to say as any and oddly fitting.

“He likes you”

“He cursed me in at least three languages. I don’t know how much he really likes me” Yuuri answered, eyes focused on Viktor’s face and amusement laced thickly on his words.

“Ohh, trust me! It is impossible to get through to that boy and yet, here you are. And the visit…”

“It’s nothing, really. I just thought he might enjoy it”

Viktor was looking at Yuuri rather intensely and the shy smile he gave was followed by a rather intense blush. Still, Yuuri held his gaze, which was as full of meaning as Viktor’s own.

“Just a warning, be sure his clearance is temporary, or he might never leave”

“Hah. Maybe he can stay? If he is as good a designer as he is a gamer, we may have room for him”

“Don’t let him hear you, he will be attached to you until you make good on that”

Silence fell between them after that. But not the awkward type. There was some tension in the air, but that was probably Viktor who was dying to ask about Yuuri’s sheer acknowledgment of their “relationship”. But before Viktor could ask, Yuri was back and as demanding as ever.

“What’s for dinner?”

After dinner, Yuri got comfortable on the couch and so Yuuri and Viktor were left with sharing a bed once again. Not that Viktor minded. That was probably the best night sleep he had had in a while. But he still needed to deal with Yuuri accepting him a boyfriend so easily (even if it was hypothetical).

He was now in the bathroom, brushing his this and pondering whether he really wanted that answer or not when Yuuri’s voice came through the open door.

“How was work today?”

Such an innocuous question but Viktor knew what he meant. And he really didn’t wanna answer, but he also knew he wouldn’t lie.

“Good. We have our first solid lead.” He answered between spiting and brushing again.

“Can I have a little more info?”

Viktor spit the last of the bathroom sink and turned of the water before returning to the bedroom. Yuuri was already on “his” side of the bed, leaning against the headboard and watching Viktor closely.

“No, not yet.”

“Did I do something wrong or…?”

“God, no! No, no” Viktor sighed and then approached the bed and accommodated himself next to Yuuri. “Look, one of the doormen in your building is a very likely suspect. And we found out he has a connexion to someone inside PCYK. I am not giving you or Bella or Phichit any more info until we know for sure if the connexion is an accomplice or just the reason for everything that’s been going on.”

Yuuri seemed torn and relieved by the news. No wonder, considering they meant someone might have betrayed him at the same time it meant this whole ordeal might finally come to an end. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts.

“When you say reason, what do you mean?”

“Maybe something that happened inside seemed to this person as an attack to the worker in question; therefore, they sought to retaliate.” Viktor explained, eyes trained on Yuuri’s expression. So far, other than the pinched eyebrows, he was keeping quite the poker face. Viktor just kept quiet and waited for him to analyse this information.

“So, what? A familiar, that after hearing, I don’t know, that a draft got rejected, they decided I was a bad person?”

Now he was looking straight at Viktor and he looked mad. Really, really, mad. Which Viktor’s treacherous brain was finding _oh so appealing_!

“Yes”

“How does that make sense?” The exasperation was seeping out of the other man and Viktor just wanted to throw caution to the wind and kiss him.

“Does any crime make sense? You are a morale person. You conduct yourself in a way that makes you trustworthy and kind, among other things. This person doesn’t. I can’t tell you how it makes sense. I just can tell you it makes sense to him. But we will stop him” he promised and that promise made Yuuri’s features relax.

“Yes, yes, I know. Just, give me the full info as soon as you confirm it, alright?” Viktor nodded. “And thanks for not lying. You could have just said you had nothing.”

“Not how I do things”

“Definitely. But you did lie to Yuri”

“I didn’t lie to you!” Viktor squealed, appalled.

“Not me, silly. Your cousin”

“Ohh. Wait, about what?”

“My reason for being here”

“A, he is a kid, I’d rather not risk it. He is good, but he babbles a lot too. Especially about this TA who in narrative for games. And B, well, it’s not like you corrected him either”

They were there. They were talking about the elephant in the room.

“Well, I thought it was obvious by now, given how I tried asking you out to dinner the other day”

“So, that was supposed to be a date?” Viktor teased, heart soaring at the confirmation that, yes, Yuuri wanted to date him.

“Well, if you are interested, which I thought you were, because you said yes, but if you are not…” Yuuri was stuttering and blushing cutely. Viktor couldn’t hold it anymore. He cupped Yuuri’s cheeks, shutting him up on the spot, and he drew closely. He was only a centimetre away from the blushing man before him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his face and the quick shallow breaths that were coming from his mouth.

“If I’m over stepping, please, tell me so now”

Instead of answering, Yuuri erased the little distance between them and pressed they lips together. It was the lightest of touches, but the meaning was clear and then Viktor was the one chasing after the younger man’s mouth. Heated and tender, they kissed each other in a way neither had kissed anyone in a while. When they finally broke for air, they pressed their foreheads together.

“In case I haven’t made it clear enough, I like you. A lot” Viktor finally said.

“Good. I like you too”

They stayed like that for a while, exchanging lazy kisses now and then before sleep claimed them. They repeated last night’s cuddling but this time, there was no hesitation, no doubts. They both wanted this.

In the meantime, while they slept, someone waited outside the building for morning to come and finally end this once and for all.


	8. Chapter 8

The office was quiet. It was rather early, so only him and Bella were in so far. They had received a text from Yuuri that he was coming in to work an hour early to fill them in and they had arrived even earlier than that, the anxiousness that normally characterized their friend assaulting them incessantly since they found out about the events of two days ago. In the stillness of the early morning, Phichit paced their shared office with the determination a caged animal paced their prison.

"I'm begging you, stop! You're gonna make a dent on the floor" Bella said, exasperated as she sat on the couch, leaning on her kneess with a still-full-but-cold cup of coffee on her hands.

"I can't. I know he said he was ok, but this is...."

"I know, ok? None of us could have predicted it would go this far..."

Phichit stopped and turned to look at her. For the first time in ever, he noticed just how tired and stressed she was. Bella Yang wasn't a woman who got beaten to such a state. She had bags under her eyes (which Phichit knew were there only because she had far more make-up on than she normally wore), her clothes were slightly un-kept and her hair, regardless of how shiny it was, it wasn't done elegantly as normal.

He sighed and leaned on his desk, allowing himself a minute to accept the fact that everyone was on edge. Yuuri had kept in touch through text all of yesterday and promised he was ok, begging to keep everything a secret. Phichit still needed an explanation to that, but he had followed the request to a T. As far as anyone was concerned, Yuuri had been out on leave because he had caught a cold. Yet, the dread as to what this person might due to him, or anyone near him for that matter, was stifling.

Someone, out there, thought Yuuri deserved to be hurt and punished. Only god knew who, why or how, but that person still existed and still was a threat. Bella had talked to Viktor yesterday and, apparently, they finally had a solid lead that had come up from the home invasion. The silver lining in an otherwise terrible thing. Phichit just wished they could go back to only worrying about their games getting bad reviews. But that didn't seem likely. Not yet, at least.

As he was finishing his musings, they heard the outer office's door open and they both stand up in a second as the inner office door was thrown wide open by a gigantic version of Vicchan. Did Yuuri get another poodle? When? Before any of this could be answer, Viktor appeared behind the poodle, being dragged as it went straight to Bella for scratches. As Bella duck down to welcome their furry visitor, Yuuri came through the door carrying Vicchan in his hands and trying not to laugh at Viktor, who was getting up from the floor and fixing his clothes.

"Not funny, Makkachin. You see Bells regularly, you know?" the man tried to scold his dog. Which was a mute point if we considered he sounded more amused than annoyed at his dog's antics.

Yuuri, in the meanwhile had approached Phichit with a  sheepish smile.

"Sorry that I worried you"

"Me, worried? Never!" Phichit dramatized, bringing his hand to his chest before dropping it and hugging Yuuri tight. Although it didn't last too long, seeing as he forgot Yuuri was holding a miniature poodle in his arms that didn't enjoy being squeezed.

"Sorry Vicchan. So, would you two care to fill us in properly, please?"

At Phichit's request, they let the poodles settle in Vicchan's space and they all accommodated themselves around th couch, as while Viktor helped Bella get coffee for them all.

"Well..." Viktor began once everyone is seated. "you two already know what happened at Yuuri's place. The police protocol was carried out and everything was analysed. The blood was animal...pig's blood to be specific. The mess was more for show than anything else since we confirmed nothing had been taken. There were a few torn books, the painting on the wall and the pork head on the coffee table. We moved Yuuri to a safe house..."

"Which we know nothing about..." Phichit complained.

"That's how it's supposed to be. The only one who knows is Yakov, because he is my boss. As far as anyone is concerned, Yuuri is staying in a hotel room we normally rent as a safe house."

"Why the decoy?" Bella asked.

"Because we believe the perpetrator is someone working as a building manager in Yuuri's building. So we let the cops working the scene know and tell the people working the building. If we are right, he will show up there."

"And what are you gonna do meanwhile?" Phichit didn’t mean to sound so mean, but, well, his best friend's life was in the line here.

Viktor looked at him straight in the eye before he answered, making him feel confident that this guy had his days counted. What the hell had happened this last couple of days?

"We believe on of the doormen has a relation to someone working here. I am waiting for my team so we can interrogate them here and see if they helped willingly or they didnt know what was going on"

"What difference does it make?" Bella said. Her gaze had hardened as the story had been recounted.

"If they knew, they are willing accomplices. That's jailtime for them. How long, will depend on whether they help prosecute the other or not. If they didn't, they are just a means to an end"

"Meaning..." asked Yuuri for the first time since the conversation started. 

"Meaning the perpetrator simply twisted whatever story he was told about you into some personal vendetta. Wouldn't be the first time someone distorts reality to fit their need to be the hero or whatever fantasy is going around in their head. On one of the kidnappings I worked on, the criminal took the person because they believed they knew where the missing money on a company was. Turns out, they were 'defending' someone being accused of embezzlement. Turns out, the embezzler had actually done it and the other guy just had bad timing. The point is the kidnapper couldn’t see past his belief that the person being accused was innocent, so he took justice in his own had. Wouldn’t be the first perpetrator who believes they are doing something heroic for someone that, in reality, needs no saving.”

This got everybody thinking. Someone felt Yuuri had wronged one of their employees? Who? Why? Well, if they wanted answers, they’d have to get this guy first.

“What do you need from us?” Phichit asked.

“An empty conference rooms. Mila and Georgi will be waiting for me and the suspects there while I go pick them up. After all, as far as they know, I’m an investor interested in what they are working on. And this way we can keep the façade up for a little while longer, just in case we are wrong.”

Phichit had the uncanny feeling Viktor wasn’t wrong. Maybe the person wasn’t purposefully complying to the perpetrators cause, but he definitely thought they were on the right scent here.

“Ok, use number 16 on the floor right above this one. Just don’t scare our employees off in case they are actually innocent.”

Viktor snorted. Yeah, Phichit could see the humour even if the situation had him more strung up that finals week senior year. But at least everything seemed to have a foreseeable ending. And a beginning apparently, Phichit thought as he finally focused on what matter: Yuuri and Viktor. To begin with, how on earth didn’t he notice that they were sitting thigh to thigh on the couch? And not just that. They seemed comfortable with it. Really, really, comfortable. Time to mess with his best friend then.

“So, now that the nasty stuff is out of the way, spill…what’s up with this sudden closeness?”

As expected, Yuuri went beet red. Even Viktor, cool and collected Viktor, got flushed and seemed out of place as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Phich….”

“Oh, come on, give us something!”

“Well, it’s not that there is nothing…” which coming from Yuuri meant there was a lot “but it’s new? I mean, it’s developing. And kind of exciting? Just, not something I wanna jinx, you know?”

So, to translate, they were in deep with each other. Yeah, Phichit could work with it.

“Ok, I will let you too figure it out for now, but I’m getting details eventually, you hear me?”

“Just don’t make it public yet…” at Bella’s look of confusion Viktor added. “I wanna see this case through. If Yakov finds out, I’m out”

“Mmmm, yeah, you’re probably right. But I’m taking part of this wedding, you hear me? Or I’m letting Chris handle your bachelor party all on his own!”

Now Viktor was blushing as red as Yuuri.

“God no! That’s be too much.” He countered, shaking his head rapidly. And, then, almost as an after thought “But you are getting ahead of yourself…let us get to properly dating first!”

“That seems fair.” Phichit added. “But do give my friend a good dicking soon. I’m pretty sure he last got laid like a year ago!”

“PHICHIT!” Yuuri screeched and hid his face in his hands. Why was it always so easy?

Luckily, someone knocked on the door to the inside office just in that second and the couple was spared from the onslaught of embarrassment that Phichit had in mind for them.

 _Oh, well. I can work on Yuuri once he leaves!_ The Thai man thought to himself as he saw Viktor welcome his colleagues. After a quick introduction, more proper than the one in the precinct a few weeks back, Viktor sent off the two detectives and moved to Yuuri.

“I gotta go. See you later and please, do not dare go ANYWHERE alone. Let me know when you are ready to leave for the day, ok?”

“Hai,  hai. Don’t worry. They won´t leave me alone. Phichit is rather hard to shake off” Yuuri joke.

“Good” Viktor whispered and, as if he had forgotten they had company, leaned down to peck Yuuri on the lips. If only he had better friends. But as he didn’t….

“Whohoo! Nice one Nikiforov!”

“About time Vik!”

For someone who was used to deal with dangerous and nerve-wracking situations, it was hilarious to see him so out of his element. Phichit had, at one point, thought the man was a smooth talker. Looks like he would need to readjust his opinion.

As the door closed, it was obvious to anyone with eyes just how smitten his best friend was. Good luck it seemed to be equally reciprocated, if the longing look Viktor threw him just before closing the door was anything to go by.

Still, “I’m giving him the shovel talk later” he announced to Yuuri’s horror.

“Phichit no!”

“Phichit Yes!” came the double answer, since Bella seemed to agree with the idea a bit too enthusiastically.

“Ughhh! I hate you both. Let’s get to work, I need to catch up on whatever happened yesterday!”

“Spoilsport!” Phichit mocked complained as he gathered his papers to fill Yuuri in on  _all_  the things he had missed (because so much can happen in one day).

 

They had everything set up in the conference room. Not that they had that much, but it was important to keep record of this meeting. So, they geared it up with both sound and video recording devices. Anyone who walked in would think it was some sort of video session.

“Mila, are we good to go?” Viktor asked as he checked his watch.

“Yes. When are they getting here?”

“They should be arriving any second. They believe it is some sort of development meeting.”

As if summoned, someone knock on the door.

“Come in”

“Mr. Nikiforov, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, Lettie, come on in.”

She made it through the door and, once she closed it, noted the set up in the room.

“What’s going on?”

“I failed to introduce myself properly to you when we met. I am detective Viktor Nikiforov and I am working on a case involving death threats directed at you CEO, Yuuri Katusiki. Please, take a seat.”

The uneasiness in her demeanour was obvious, but to Viktor’s expert eyes, she looked more confused than guilty. Time to find out. He stood by Mila and Georgi, both of whom were sitting across the table from her and managing the recording equipment. Viktor went straight to the point.

“How can I help you? I didn’t even know something was going on”

“You didn’t?”

“No, of course not, how could I”

Viktor moved closer and leaned on the table.

“Lettie. We have narrowed the names of the people involved after an incident occurred in Mr. Katsuki’s residence two days ago. One of the names struck out because of his history. And after deeper investigation, it turned out that that man has a daughter who works here.”

Lettie was suddenly pale. All colour drained from her face, her eyes wide.

“Oh, no. Not him” she whispered.

“We were wondering why you didn’t share his last name…”

“Because I’d rather have nothing to do with him if possible. Legally, he has no record, because everything ever filed was dismissed for one reason or the other. My mom and I left him because he was obsessive, manipulative and was prone to outburst of anger. My mother ignored most of this for a long time, but after I was born, they became acutely aware to her and, after he got into a fist fight with the caterer at my five-years-old party, we packed up and left. They are legally divorced only because she agreed to let me see him one day a month until I turned 18. Then, it was my choice. I see him now and then, but if I can avoid it, I will. I am no psychiatrist, but he has all the makings of a sociopath.”

Viktor had never heard someone talk like that about his parents. Well, at least not with actual certainty that it was indeed true. The thing was, Viktor believed her.

“So, you didn’t comment on your work here with him?”

“No.”

“Does he know anyone here?”

“Noo…wait, yes”

Before anything else could be said, Georgi’s phone rang. Viktor and Mila focused on him until he thank the person on the other side and hung up.

“We are needed at the hotel, someone showed up. They have him in custody.”

“Lettie, you can go. We may call you in for further questioning. And don’t divulge this interview with anybody”

She only nodded and they let the equipment there while Viktor informed the rest what was going on and ordered Yuuri not to leave without him.

“I will be fine if I go there on my own. I can take a cab.”

“No, I’d rather you don’t go on your own.”

“Go, figure this out, and I will go on my own if it gets late. No one knows where I’m going. I’ll be fine”

Viktor didn’t agree, but he didn’t have a sound argument to keep fighting it.

“Fine. But I will try to be back in time”

“Get this over with. That’s more important”

Viktor looked around and got the point. Everyone needed this to be done for good. And he could make it happen. Maybe, if the stars were on his side, he could do it today.

“See you later” he said low and leaned in to kiss Yuuri on the lips. The gesture, regardless of it being a sweet and innocent one, got him a cat call from Phichit. Yuuri was red when he turned to leave and he could hear him seethed “I hate you so much Phich!”

Everything would be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Click [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/yoificsandmore) to visit my YOI tumblr!


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